


Name Your Courage Now

by constellraetion



Category: Bugsnax (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Filbo/Liz Swap AU, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, expect the same levels of violence and horror as canon, have u ever seen a mewon be a mama? me neither, i made a few changes to how snakification works, my journalist is called Snaplynn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28892730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constellraetion/pseuds/constellraetion
Summary: It almost happens the exact same way.Elizabert invites a group of 12 grumpuses on an expedition to start a new life on Snaktooth island, and after only a few short months, the inhabitants of the new settlement Snaxburg fall apart, all of them going their separate ways.Except this time, Elizabert isn't the one who goes missing.
Relationships: Eggabell Batternugget/Elizabert Megafig, Filbo Fiddlepie/The Journalist (Implied), Gramble Gigglefunny/Wiggle Wigglebottom, Snorpy Fizzlebean/Chandlo Funkbun, Triffany Lottablog/Wambus Troubleham
Comments: 29
Kudos: 131





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Marenorchid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marenorchid/gifts).



“Well.. I think that’s the last of it!” Filbo breathed a sigh of relief, the rest of the things he was bringing with him to Snaktooth Island safely packed in the crates that they would be dropping off at the docks, along with him. “Y’know it’s.. not too late to change your mind?”

Snaplynn looked up from the framed photo in their paws- a picture of a younger Filbo standing side by side with Elizabert Megafig, her arm around his shoulders and matching grins on their faces. “... I appreciate the offer, Filbo, really I do, but if I don’t take this next assignment you might not have an apartment to come back to,” they said, letting out a dry laugh before setting the frame face down.

From the doorway, Filbo stared at them with confusion and a hint of worry. “Wait a sec, come back? You thought I was coming back?”

“Well.. yeah? You said you were going to help Lizbert start up her little village and then-”

“I’m going to help her start a whole new community, Buddy! Liz- she asked me to go cause she wants me to live there, on Snaktooth! I, uh, I never really planned on coming back here.. I was actually gonna ask if you could sell my old stuff. It didn’t feel fair to just leave you with my things and make you take care of them for me- but you can keep all the money! For, uh, rent! Since I.. won’t be able to help you pay it anymore..” Filbo flagged slightly, a frown on his face as he leaned against the open door, the light shining into the room from behind him leaving Snaplynn in his shadow.

Their paws felt uncomfortably empty, and they found themself clenching and unclenching them nervously. “So, this was supposed to be goodbye? Just.. _‘Seeya Buddy, I’m off to start a new life on an island and I’m never coming home!’_ and that’s that?” they asked, hating how their voice wavered. “You knew I couldn’t come with you- _my job-”_

“I do know! I didn’t want to make you choose.. but, Liz wants me there and I can’t say no to her, plus I think it might be nice! I’ll actually be able to contribute to something for once! And- and you won’t have to worry about looking after me, or picking me up from work! Or-” Filbo stopped himself, before letting out a long breath. “I’m not going to be a burden on you anymore.”

 _“Filbo-_ you’ve never been a burden, not to me,” Snaplynn felt a sniffle building up as they stumbled forward to wrap their arms around him, ignoring his quiet _oof_ of surprise as they squeezed him as hard as possible. “I’m still upset that this is how you’re choosing to go.. all of this- just packing up and moving to an island with some complete strangers.. it sounds dangerous..”

He let out a sheepish noise at that, then started hugging them back, his paws clutching at their fur. “It’s not only strangers! I know Liz and Egg, and I’m sure I’ll get along great with everyone else!”

They didn’t know if they believed that, entirely. Filbo was sweet and kind but easily taken advantage of. They sighed as memories of times when they needed to put his foot down for him rose up in their mind. “Yeah... okay,” they said quietly, gripping him harder before mumbling into his shoulder. “You better write to me, or else.”

“Of course I will! I’m, um, not entirely sure how I’ll get them delivered to you- or if you could even write me back, but I’m sure I’ll figure something out!” Filbo pulled away to give them a million watt smile, and Snaplynn tried their best to return it before scrubbing away the building tears with the back of their arm.

“Alright- alright, we should get going. Don’t want you to miss the boat..” they forced out, leaning down to pick up one of the crates.

“Hey, Lynn?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.. for everything.”

“...Don’t mention it, Filbo.”

◉◉

_Hey Buddy!_

_Sorry it took me soooo long to write, I wasn’t sure how to get this to you_ _until Liz helped me out,_ _but I think I got it now! Plus getting Snaxburg (that’s the name of our new town!) set up has been kind of exhausting! I get to paint the huts but I can’t do it for too long or I’ll get dizzy and the last time that happened I_ _fell off the roof_ _did something not-so smart but I’m okay now! Everything is going great! I have a bunch of new neighbors, and Lizbert and Eggabell are super good at running everything!_

 _I know it’s been a few months since we last saw each other, and I’m sure you’re super busy with work and all, but Liz wanted me to ask if, maybe you could visit Snaktooth? I’m not asking you to move here!_ _You already made it clear that island life isn’t for you,_ _but if you could just see what we’re doing here, I’m sure you’d think its amazing! Plus she said she’s a big fan of yours, and wants to talk to you about maybe sharing our story with the rest of the world!_

 _And man oh man I haven’t even gotten to the best part! Since I know you wouldn’t just travel someplace without knowing why it’s newsworthy. Your articles are pretty focused on reaallly special stuff, right?_ _You and Liz are a lot more alike than you’d assume!_ _Liz picked this island for a reason, and she wanted to start a community here because there’s something unique on Snaktooth. Something that you can’t find anywhere else!_

 _Well, here on Snaktooth, there’s a kind of creature that’s like, a snack bug hybrid! We’ve been calling them bugsnax and they’re soooo delicious, I just can’t stop eating them!_ _I mean, I stopped for a little while after I almost burned Snaxburg down with my weenie hands but I think everyone’s gonna forget about that soon._ _There’s a bunch of different kinds and lately Liz has been hunting them down for us to eat since they’re.. kind of like the only type of food on the island?_ _And we sort of ran out of normal food faster than expected somehow, and the farm didn’t work out so well-_ _But it’s fine cause they’re really tasty and I should probably stop talking about them now because it’s making me hungry just thinking about it!_

_But, anyway, I hope you’re doing well. I miss you a lot and I hope you think about visiting! It’d be really nice to see you again and tell you about all the stuff I’ve done since I left! And you can even bring some newspapers so I can read your latest story! Cause it’s kind of hard to get the paper out here!_

_I hope I’ll see you soon!_

_\- Filbo_


	2. Chapter 2

The rain was obscuring their vision, and Snaplynn cursed under their breath as they clutched the steering wheel of their skyboat in one paw, and the map Filbo mailed them in the other. They narrowed their eyes at the roughly drawn shapes on the page while trying to see more than a few feet past the sheets of water coming down from the sky.

“I should’ve checked the weather before I left- I should’ve- I should’ve thought this through, maybe, just a bit more,” they mumbled bitterly. “I get fired over that stupid article, and the first word I hear from him has me-” a growl escaped them as they wrestled with the paper against the wind. _“-has me chasing him across the grumpin’ ocean just to see him again,_ and now this grump forsaken _rain-”_ Snaplynn stopped short as a sound completely unlike the patter of raindrops against wood reached them, their head swiveling about to find the source of the noise before they caught sight of a blurry silhouette quickly approaching their ship.

Squinting, they tried to make sense of what they were looking at. “Some sort of.. pizza?” It was getting closer- chanting something they couldn’t understand. “Giant.. flying pizza? Giant.. flying pizza _headed straight for me-!”_

Abandoning the map, they gripped the wooden bars of the steering wheel as hard as they could, gasping with shock as the massive pizza creature collided with their ship. Despite how hard they’d been clinging to the wheel, they were thrown across the deck upon impact, the ship itself spinning out of control as they failed to gain any traction on the rain-slicked wood while they tried to scramble back to the helm.

A loud wheezing noise informed them that the sharp motion must have damaged the hot air balloon holding the ship aloft, as the entire thing began to lose altitude. “Oh grump this _cannot_ be happening,” they groaned, somehow managing to get back to their feet before they spied the ground getting closer and closer at an alarming rate. Glancing around quickly, they spied the sheets they’d been using on their cot in the back of the ship. Snatching them up, they hurried to the edge of the boat. “This isn’t going to work- oh _grump_ this _isn’t going to work-”_ the words left their mouth even as they jumped off the side, the corners of the sheets held tightly in their paws. The wind caught them, which was a surprise, but the sharp pull in their arms as they were yanked upwards wasn’t.

Snaplynn wheezed, pain radiating from their wrists as they descended, their eyes watering even as they carefully took in the distance between themself and the land below. They just needed to wait until they were close enough to be able to take the fall- they didn’t think they’d be able to hold on long enough for a gentle landing anyway.

Though despite that plan, they weren’t able to make it that far, as another gust of wind pulled at the sheets. Another jolt of pain had them letting go reflexively, crying out as they fell.

 _I hope I land on something soft,_ they thought, right before they hit the ground.

◉◉

“-llo? Hello? Oh grump please don’t be dead-”

_“Rrrghhhhhg..”_

“Oh- oh! You’re alive! That’s great- okay, hold on, I’m- I’m gonna get you someplace safe, so don’t die on the way there, alright?”

-

“Well, I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?”

_Wheeze._

“I’m gonna assume that means you wanted the good news first, which is that you don’t have any internal bleeding! But, um, the bad news is that you have a concussion and two sprained wrists. I set them both while you were unconscious but you woke up and started screaming which was, not exactly the best situation, but they’re fixed now! And they’re in splints, so I’m just going to let you get some rest and we’ll see about getting you up and about in a day or two! Sleep well!”

_Wheeze...wheeze!_

-

“Hmm.. any discomfort here? No? How about here?”

“Ghh..”

“Alright, alright, I’m taking the bandages off now- better close your eyes.” Snaplynn hissed softly as they caught a glimpse of light for the first time in.. well they didn’t really know. That was an issue. “I warned you.. How’s everything feeling though? You can open your eyes now, by the way.” Blinking slowly, they waited for their vision to adjust, the unknown figure hovering over them was white and only registered as a blob to them at the moment.

“Urhghh.. what...hit me...” they forced out, noting every ache in their body as they were eased up into a sitting position.

“Not sure- but I’m gonna assume that you’re the owner of the ship that’s crashed into the side of the hill.” _Their ship!_

They wanted to talk more but on their next attempt the only thing they could get out was a cough. A few moments later a wooden cup was pressed to their mouth and they instinctively took a few sips before they managed to speak again. “That’s mine.. Where am I?”

Narrowing their good eye, the white blob solidified a bit more. It was definitely another grumpus, that they were certain of, and they were sure if they hadn’t been nursed back to health by this stranger they’d at least be relieved to not be alone in unfamiliar territory. “Oh, um, well in a broad sense you’re on Snaktooth island, but if you wanted specifics, you’re in Snaxburg.”

“Snaxburg? You mean-” _Cough._ The cup was held up for them once more. _Sip sip._ “I can’t believe I actually made it here..”

“You.. came here on purpose?” The other grump sounded caught between nervous and hopeful.

Groaning softly, they stretched their sore limbs. “Yeah, I was looking for someone but a.. giant flying pizza... made my ship crash.” They winced at how unbelievable the story sounded.

Instead of laughter in response, they heard a quiet noise from the other. “Huh.. I’ve never heard of them doing that before. Who did you come here to find, if you.. don’t mind me asking?”

“Um, I don’t know if you know him all that well. His name’s Filbo? Filbo Fiddlepie?”

 _“You know Filbo!?”_ Snaplynn reeled back in surprise as their personal space was suddenly full of stranger. “Wait- _wait a minute,_ you’re that reporter that he and Liz were always talking about! Gah, why didn’t I recognize you sooner? Oh my grump, I can’t believe this-”

Still seeing blurs, Snaplynn blinked until their vision regained most of its clarity, the white blob in front of them becoming more defined until- _“Doctor Eggabell Batternugget?”_

“You know me too! This is- this is ridiculous, I should’ve known- I’m so-!” Eggabell let out a noise of frustration. “Gah...I’m sorry- It’s been a rough few weeks, I don’t- I, um, actually don’t remember your name. Filbo didn’t use it super often. What’d he call you... Buddy? Budlyn? Something like that?”

“It’s..Snaplynn,” they said, somewhat stunned. “Snaplynn Sootspur. I came because Filbo asked me to, and, well, I suddenly had a lot of free time on my paws so.. here I am!” What was supposed to be a cheerful inflection fell terribly flat as the ache in their arms returned. “Is- is he here? Oh grump it’d be terrible if he had to see me lying in bed for.. how long has it been since I crashed?”

Eggabell suddenly looked uncomfortable, shifting her weight intermittently as her gaze focused on anywhere except their face. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you but our first meeting was me dragging you here through the rain and patching you up after that storm- which was about four days ago. And..as for Filbo, he’s not here. We’re actually the only two grumps in town right now.”

“Oh...” They blinked. “Well, then, where is he?”

Snaplynn felt a sense of dread welling up in their chest as Eggabell seemed to quail under their expectant look, running her paws over each other repeatedly before she cracked. “Filbo is.. he’s uh... He’s missing,” she said, voice strained.

 _“Missing!?”_ They would’ve jumped to their feet then and there if their body hadn’t protested. “What do you mean _missing?_ How long has he been gone?!”

“A few weeks-”

 _“WEEKS!?!”_ Any of the strength they’d regained at that point drained from them in an instant. Weeks. Filbo had been missing for weeks. Filbo, who could barely take care of himself on a good day, was missing. _Lost._ On unfamiliar territory with a bunch of strangers- “Is- is that why everyone else isn’t here? They’re out looking for him, right? He said there were others out here too, they’re just busy searching?”

Their heart sank as Eggabell slowly moved to sit on the cot beside them, tears building in her eyes as she rested a paw on top of theirs. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, but they’re not, they just.. aren’t here.”

The room was swimming as they felt themself slip down until they were once again lying on their back, staring up at the ceiling as a cocktail of emotions bubbled within their chest.

“The only one looking for Filbo is my partner, Liz, and.. as for everyone else, they’re all out there on their own,” Eggabell said quietly, her voice apologetic and somber as she looked down at them.

“What happened?” Their own voice didn’t sound like it belonged to them as they met her sad gaze.

“Liz needed some help exploring up on the mountain and I- we.. weren’t speaking at the time, so she took Filbo up there with her. He’s always trying to be useful around town so, he offered to go in my stead and,” Eggabell paused, wavering slightly. “While they were gone there was an earthquake. Something must’ve gone wrong up on the peak because Liz came back alone, I was treating a patient so I don’t know what happened when she got back to Snaxburg but when we finished everyone was screaming and shouting at each other- I didn’t know what to do! Liz was just..standing there while everybody fell apart, and then they all..left.”

Snaplynn felt the weight of her words settle on them like a brick. In the time since Filbo had sent them that letter, the entire community had fallen apart, and he’d vanished somewhere on the mountaintop. And the only person who knew what happened to him was Elizabert.

“I don’t understand-” they muttered, more than a little shocked and definitely stressed by what she’d told them. “Why didn’t she do anything to stop them?”

Eggabell smoothed the sheets beneath them with one paw idly, looking away as she spoke. “I’m not sure myself.. I think that everything at once might’ve overwhelmed her. She didn’t look hurt- if she was I’d be able to to tell -but she looked like her mind was a million miles away. She was standing in the middle of town all day, and after everyone left she packed up some of her gear and told me she wouldn’t be back until she found Filbo. I’m not.. I’m not strong enough to make the climb up the mountain myself, so I haven’t seen her since.” She idled as they took in her words, the journalistic part of their brain already trying to piece together the whole picture even with the meager amount of information presented to them. “I know Liz can handle herself- she’s strong, the strongest person I know. But.. we weren’t on good terms when she left, and knowing she’s out there alone, and not knowing if she and Filbo are alright-”

Sitting up, they watched her cover her face with her paws, her quiet weeping audible even though muffled through her fur. “Doctor Batternugget..”

“Oh, please, call me Eggabell.” she sniffled and wiped her face, “I’m sorry.. you came all this way looking for Filbo and I’ve given you the worst news possible.”

“Well, you haven’t told me the one thing that would make me lose hope,” they said, wondering if their journal and snaxscope had survived the crash as they carefully eased themself out of the cot. “If Elizabert went back to the peak to look for Filbo then she must’ve been reasonably certain he’s still alive, meaning I need to figure out how to get up there so I can help..”

Eggabell stared at them with wide eyes before getting to her feet as well. “You really want to do that? You’ve only barely recovered! At least stay here for another day. You’re not familiar with the island but I can show you around, and make sure you’re actually capable of taking care of yourself out there.”

“I really appreciate that, Eggabell. Thank you.” Looking away for a moment, they peeked out the window towards where they assumed their ship had crash landed, already planning their next steps in their head. “I don’t suppose the first stop on our tour could be that hill with the wrecked ship on it?”

“Haha..sure thing.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Okay, you ready to go?” Eggabell seemed much cheerier after another day of letting them rest, eagerly helping them out of bed and outside, where they took a moment to stare up at the cloudless sky.

“Yeah- I’ve been good for a while, Doctor Batternugget. I’m sort of used to roughing it,” they said softly, hearing her scoff as she pulled them towards the hill where their ship was currently lodged.

“Just Eggabell, thanks, you really don’t have to keep up the formalities, we’re the only two grumps in town anyway,” she chimed, “For now! Also there’s no ‘roughing it’ in the condition you were in! Though... considering what happened you were pretty lucky to get away with as few injuries as you did.”

Had she not been clutching their paw, Snaplynn would’ve gotten distracted by the appearance of the town as they were guided up the slope. The buildings besides the hut where Eggabell retired to every night, and the half-open tent they’d been resting in temporarily were all dilapidated, the leaf covers on the roofs were brown and flaking off, while the paint on the sides was weathering away due to the lack of maintenance.

“This place has.. seen better days, hasn’t it?” they asked idly before they made it up the hill to where they could overlook the entire town. “Wow..”

At their side, Eggabell made a quiet noise. “It’s definitely not as homely as it used to be. But, hopefully that’ll change soon,” she turned to give them an encouraging smile. “Now come on, your ship’s straight ahead.”

Snaplynn perked up at the sight of their grounded skyboat. It looked a little worse for wear, but as they hopped up onto the deck, they noted that the damage to the hull seemed mostly superficial, with the hot air balloon’s heating mechanism taking the worst of it. It wasn’t meant to withstand sudden forceful impacts after all.

“Hah, it actually looks okay-” they said, somewhat breathless as they hurried to the other end of the vessel while Eggabell peered over the side. “I wonder if... aha!” A grin bloomed on their face as they re-emerged from the back of the ship, their hat atop their head, their snaxscope hanging from their neck, and their recorder in paw. “They’re all still here! I was worried, I wouldn’t be able to replace these,” they patted the camera and recorder gently, “but if they still work-!”

Lifting it up to their face, they looked carefully at the screen and turned it on, waiting with bated breath before the lens shutters opened and Eggabell’s surprised, but excited face appeared on it. “Oh, a snaxscope! I’ve only ever seen one, Beffica’s, but hers is a lot less rugged looking! Is that the one you use for your job?”

“Erm, used to use.. but yes, it looks like it’s still functioning,” they muttered, digging around in the wreckage of their meager belongings, “doesn’t look like my journal survived the crash though, which means I can’t use all the scope’s features unfortunately.”

“Hmm, we could ask Beffica if she has a spare, actually,” Eggabell stepped back so they could hop off of the ship’s deck. “I think she’s been staying in a cave nearby. I’m glad she’s sticking close to town- in case something happens I can get to her quickly, which I can’t say the same for everyone else.”

Following her around the curve, Snaplynn blinked as they passed the tall outcropping of rocks separating the town from the fields beyond. “Are those..?” A menagerie of creatures were wandering around below the ledge they were on, their eyes wide as they took in the site. “I guess Filbo wasn’t lying...”

“Oh. My. Grump.” A new voice had them spinning around to see Eggabell standing beside the opening to a cave, a fondly exasperated look on her face as a short purple grumpus emerged and stared at them. “I  _ can’t _ believe Filbo wasn’t lying, unless he hired you to come here? But I don’t think anyone would take a job offer from someone  _ so _ pathetic-”

_ “Hey-” _ they snapped, before they reeled themself back in, fur bristling slightly at her words. “Please.. don’t talk about him that way.” Snaplynn watched her eyes widen ever so slightly before a smirk painted itself across her muzzle.

“Wooooow, you’ve got a short fuse on you, huh..?” she grinned and Eggabell lightly tapped her shoulder with the back of her paw, hissing out a quiet Be nice, under her breath, which subsequently had the other grumpus rolling her eyes before another glance at them had her gasping with recognition. “Wait a second- no way, you’re that journalist from-!”

“GNN yes, yes,” they said, forcing down the growl building in their throat. “And you would be..Beffica, I presume?”

The purple grumpus shifted from scrutinous to starstruck in only a second, her gaze flittering from their face to their camera rapidly. “Oh em gee, I am  _ so _ sorry, I had  _ no idea _ I was talking to someone with real talent! You’re absolutely right, I’m Beffica Winklesnoot, big fan.” She winked audibly and Snaplynn jumped slightly as they wondered where the sound had come from. “Where’d you find this one, Eggabell? I think I would’ve remembered sharing the ride here with someone so..  _ prolific.” _

Snaplynn shuddered at her inflection and shifted their focus onto Eggabell, who sighed aloud. “They crash landed here almost a week ago, Beffica. Snaplynn hurt themself trying to get down in one piece so.. I’ve been helping them get their strength back so they can help!”

“Help? Help how?” Beffica looked up at her with curiosity.

“Well.. since Liz isn’t here right now, we need someone to catch snax for own- oh grump, I completely forgot!” Eggabell pressed the heel of her paw to her forehead before motioning to the two of them to stay put. “I’ll be right back- neither of you go anywhere,  _ especially _ you.” She pointed in Snaplynn’s direction before hurrying off back towards Snaxburg, leaving them to mutter a quiet  _ what is that supposed to mean? _ under their breath.

“So.. since I don’t have anything better to do,” they automatically reached for their journal before hissing when they realized it wasn’t there. “Gah- actually. Nevermind.”

Beffica smirked slightly. “What’s wrong, Bestie?” They blinked at the nickname.

“My journal fell into a ravine.”

She gasped- loud and dramatic, a paw on her chest.  _ “Seriously? _ Well, no problem! Take one of mine, I have plenty.”

They blinked again. “What.. just like that? No catch?” Snaplynn felt a hint of apprehension scratching at the back of their mind as Beffica withdrew into her cave for a moment before returning with a plain unused journal, the cover patterned with a couple of stars. It was admittedly.. really cute.

“Nope, no catch,” she said with a genuine smile. “I just hope you’ll remember this little act of goodwill in the future.” Another audible wink. Some part of them wondered what they’d just gotten themself into. “You know, it’s been pretty dry around here lately, and I don’t mean the weather. Ever since we all split up it’s been hard catching up on all the latest happenings on the island, and I like to stay informed.”

Snaplynn glanced her way as they flipped through the journal, “Uhuh.. I feel like there’s a  _ ‘but’ _ coming up.”

“No buts! I was just wondering if mayyybe, if you so happened to stumble across some juicy information you’d share it with your new best friend?” Beffica leaned in their direction at just the right angle for the light to glint off her fangs. Snaplynn didn’t know whether to laugh or not.

“You know what. Yeah, sure thing. I’ll tell you whatever I know,” they said, watching her quietly cheer  _ yes _ to herself, before they held a paw up. “On one condition.”

Beffica gave an offended scoff. “After what I just did for you? If you want info you should know I don’t give that out to just anybody.”

“I’m- I don’t need info-” they said hurriedly. At least not at the moment. They were sure they could wheedle something out of her later. “Move back to Snaxburg. I’ve only been around Doctor Batternugget for a short while but I can tell she’s worried about everyone who isn’t in town. Plus I’m not gonna make detours to come around here every single time I learn something interesting, walking is work and I don’t think anyone here can afford to cover my salary.” Not that they had one.

“Hmm..” Before she could respond properly, Eggabell was rounding the corner with a strange contraption in her arms, panting slightly as she reached their side and held it out to them for them to take.

“Thank you for not moving! See, Beffica? Snaplynn is such a good patient, you could learn a lot from them,” she said, satisfied, while she rested her paws on her knees, catching her breath. There was a story about that, they figured, and they’d definitely ask about it later, after they figured out what she’d just handed them. Turning the thing over in their paws, they squinted at it before Eggabell reached over and offered them a wristband. “Here- uh, you’ll need the remote too.”

Beffica squealed, startling them even as they slipped on the small device. “Is that your snaktrap, Eggabell? No way! Are you gonna show them how to catch snax? Please let them try catching a weenieworm, I haven't had one in  _ weeks!” _

They set the wooden trap down and hesitantly pressed the button on their wrist, jumping back in surprise when it expanded outward. After they retracted it again so they could pick it up, eyes still wide, Eggabell laughed, a clear sound that made the edges of their mouth turn upward when they caught her gaze. “Yep, it’s my trap. Finally getting some use out of it! I’m gonna take Snaplynn to see Wambus, but I’ll keep your request in mind,” she said cheerfully, before grabbing their free paw and pulling them towards the bridge leading further into the grove.

Glancing back at Beffica, they nodded at her. “Think about what I said, Bestie!”

She looked a little shocked at the nickname, but winked at them as they left.

◉◉

“Doctor Batternugget-”

“It’s still just Eggabell, but yeah?”

“I’ll admit that I’m eager to help you with whatever you need, but I’m not sure how qualified I am for this?” Snaplynn glanced at the trap across the field from them, where a Bunger was eagerly nosing through the soil beneath Wambus’ ketchup plants. The farmer had expressed some surprise at their appearance, but it seemed that he had a healthy dose of respect for Eggabell, and agreed to move his farm back to Snaxburg, provided that they could get rid of the snax in his current garden so he could move the plants he already had growing.

Patting them on the shoulder, Eggabell gave them a reassuring smile from where she was crouched behind a bush beside them. “Hey, you’re gonna do fine! It’s just one snak, and bungers aren’t aggressive towards anything that isn’t covered in ketchup.”

“..And that’s why I have the slingshot?” they asked, holding up the object in question in one hand and a ketchup bulb in the other. “Can you explain the plan again?”

Eggabell pointed to where the bunger was. “It’s important to get the bigger snax out of the way first before you clear the littler ones out, so you’re gonna fire the ketchup near the bunger to lure that other one closer to it, then you’ll fire the ketchup at both of them so they’ll charge at each other and knock themselves out! Then we’ll scoop them up with our nets. You got all that?”

Snaplynn nodded along to her words. “Okay..  _ okay,” _ they said, their heart beginning to race as they watched the snak for a few more seconds. “..How bad does it hurt to get hit by one?”

“Pretty bad.”

“Nice. Cool cool cool, neat,” they ignored the waver in their voice. They weren’t going to be bested by a walking sandwich with curly fry legs.

Gripping the slingshot a little tighter, they slipped the ketchup pod into the band, raised it, and fired towards another bunger further away. The tomatoey paste splattered impressively across the ground, and they watched the other bunger draw a little closer to the one in the garden as they beckoned for another pod. Eggabell slipped two into their paw and they fired them in quick succession, watching the two snax cry out in delight before ramming each other at full force, wincing when they both went flying in opposite directions.

“Nice going! Come on, let’s grab them before they recover!” Eggabell waved her net and they picked up theirs from where they’d set it on the ground before hurrying towards the bunger farthest from where they’d been hiding, scooping it up and blinking as it shrunk down slightly. Leaning over their shoulder with her own catch, she grinned. “That was a great job for your first try! You’re a natural!”

“Oh-” Snaplynn straightened up reflexively, unused to the praise. “Th-thank you, Doctor Batternugget.”

Eggabell rolled her eyes with fond exasperation. “Alright, open up that pack Wambus lent us so we can put these two troublemakers in there, then I’ll show you how to use my snaktrap.” Following her instructions, they shoved the bungers into the pack and closed it tightly.

“They won’t be able to escape?” they asked, eyeing the bag warily.

“Nah, once they’ve been caught they don’t try to get out. Convenient isn’t it? Now get out the trap, we still have to get that rootle before we’re finished here. I know Beffica asked for a weenieworm but she likes these almost as much.”

-

The backpack Wambus lent them was significantly heavier by the time they were done cleaning out his garden of stray snax, and although they were trying to keep up appearances, they weren’t quite recovered enough to handle that much weight for long. Wheezing softly as they tried to keep up with Eggabell, they saw Wambus standing next to Beffica, watching her with thinly veiled scrutiny before he caught sight of them.

“Whoa there Stranger, you look like you’re fit to drop under all those critters, let me take that load off-” he said, pulling the bag off of their back with impressive ease.

They blinked up at him holding the pack effortlessly and let out an barked laugh. “Thank you very much..”

“Good work, Bestie! It’s been getting kind of boring eating only sauce lately.”

“What was that?” Wambus’ eyes flicked in Beffica’s direction.

“Nothing!  _ Come on, _ tell me you brought us something good!” she said, drawing out her words before Eggabell motioned for Wambus to set the sack down. Pulling the rootle out and holding it up.  _ “Oh my grump! _ It’s not as tasty as a weenieworm but rootles are still pretty good! Thanks!” Snaplynn watched her toss the entire thing back in one go, the fur on their back raising as she devoured it without so much as a preamble. Then the fur on her right forearm rippled before shifting to a bright orange- the exact same shade as the rootle she’d just eaten.

“Ah- aghh. What. What was that?” they asked, a foreign sense of discomfort and disgust rising in their throat. “What just happened to her?!”

Eggabell immediately picked up on their distress. “Whoa whoa, hey, calm down, it’s perfectly normal! Just a side-effect of eating bugsnax! It’s nothing harmful.”

“Like, yeah, Bestie! Chill, I know you’re new to Snaktooth but this is totally the norm. In fact, when you eat enough bugsnax your limbs-” Beffica let out an offended noise as her muzzle was covered up by Wambus’ paw.

“You know.. I think maybe you should save that for when they’re a bit more used to this sorta’ thing,” he said, before gesturing to them.

In all fairness he was entirely correct. They were breathing a little hard, and they felt themself shiver when Wambus pulled one of the bungers out of the pack and scarfed it down in two large bites, just before the same thing that happened to Beffica repeated itself with his left forearm, the fur turning the same color as the bunger’s curly fry legs. “Hrrgh.. yeah, alright, I can totally believe that’s normal. Just give me a minute,” they said weakly, dropping onto the ground unceremoniously while Eggabell leaned over them, her paw against their forehead.

“No fever.. hmm. When was the last time you ate, Snaplynn?” She looked worried, and they vaguely felt a laugh coming on.

“How long has it been since I crashed here again?”

“Oh my grump, you can’t be doing this, you need to eat something!” she said, gesturing at the pack. “There’s still one bunger left, you can have it. We can always catch more later!

A glance at Wambus and Beffica’s discolored limbs had their stomach churning with unease. “Uh, uhh, are you sure? Wouldn’t you rather have it?” Eggabell was a doctor, they trusted her word, but also something about this felt a lot like sticking their hand in the cookie jar when they were explicitly told not to.

“Aww, don’t be shy! It’s fine, I’ve had my fair share of snax before! Plus a bunger isn’t too bad for your first one!” she pulled it out of the bag and held it up for them. Its weird eyes stared in opposite directions, the snak completely still, as it was waiting to be consumed.

On either side of them, Wambus and Beffica were both watching with mixed interest and anticipation. They made it seem like such a big deal..

“Yeah.. yeah alright, here I go then,” they said, ignoring how dry their mouth suddenly felt as they took the bunger from Eggabell in both paws, nervously lifting it up and taking a bite out of its face.

A second later they were leaning over the wooden railing and retching into the grass below.


	4. Chapter 4

Snaplynn groaned softly, rolling over while Wambus  _ tsked _ over them. “I gotta say, Stranger, you sure did get the short straw. I ain’t ever hear of someone being allergic to snax before.” They could only weakly glare at him while clutching their midsection. “Hey now, don’t get all up n’ mad at me. The doc’ll be back in a mite with somethin’ fer your stomach.”

“Cool,” they hissed quietly, regretting their latest decision deeply. “It figures.. just my luck,” they ground out, squeezing their eyes shut.

“Thanks for looking after them, Wambus, I can take it from here.” Eggabell slipped into the hut, a bundle of herbs held tight in one paw and a kettle in the other. “How are you doing?”

Opening one eye, Snaplynn watched her cross the room toward them as Wambus left, but not before shooting an apologetic glance their way. “Bad, I’m doing bad.”

A nervous laugh. “Haha..well... that’ll happen when you get food poisoning. Don’t worry though, it’s not my first time dealing with this sort of thing,” she said, dropping the herbs into a cup and pouring hot water into it before handing it to them. “I’m really sorry, Snaplynn. I’m a doctor- I should’ve been more careful-”

“It’s fine,” they said, clutching the drink in their paws and willing their nausea away before looking up at the sound of a quiet sniffle. “Doctor Batternugget..?”

Sitting on the bed beside them, Eggabell was covering her face with her arm, her breaths coming in broken staccatos. “No- no I’m.. I’m supposed to be better than this. Everyone here depends on me for..” she paused, wiping her eyes with her paws. “They depended on me to look after them and I let them all down..”

“No! You couldn’t have possibly been able to tell I’d react like that to eating one-” they said, nearly tripping over their words before they glanced at the cup they were holding. Their grip was so tight, and they hadn’t noticed that their claws had come out, scratching gouges into the wood. “It isn’t your fault, and you looked after me for an entire week before this even happened. Who knows what kind of state I’d be in right now if you weren’t there!”

Although tears were still soaking into her fur, Eggabell was staring at them with something akin to awe. A contented smile appeared on her face as she lowered her paws to her lap and stared down at them. “You sound kind of like Liz,” she whispered, her voice trembling before she straightened up and rubbed her eyes dry.

Snaplynn blinked, forcing down the pang of irritation that sparked within their chest. “..Like Lizbert? How?”

“Sometimes I’d have.. bad days, where I felt like I couldn’t do anything right, and Liz would always sit me down and remind me of the better times. It didn’t always work but.. it still feels good, you know, having someone say nice things about you.” She remained sitting for a moment longer before standing, looking a bit more like herself again. “I guess the silver lining in all this is that at least Gramble won’t be the only one who doesn’t eat snax anymore!”

Taking a few more sips from their cup, they held it out to her for her to take, finally relaxing slightly as the discomfort they felt abated. “Gramble? Who’s that?”

“Gramble Gigglefunny! He was our rancher before, uh..” Eggabell paused, looking apologetic, “When Liz went up to the peak there wasn’t anyone in town who wanted to try their hand at catching snax, and Gramble kept a bunch of them in his barn, but.. they weren’t for eating. I think you can predict what happened next..”

“Oh, oh no..” Snaplynn winced hard at the thought. They certainly understood why he would want to get away from a town full of hungry individuals who saw his pets as delicious. “That sounds like a really hard sell for me to pull off..”

Eggabell’s expression quickly shifted from delighted, to confused, to outright shocked. “Hold on- I never asked you to-”

“I know,” they interjected quickly, holding up a paw, “but it’s fine, it’s my choice to help. Someone has to.”

They watched her smile, hesitant but touched as her eyes gained a misty look once more. “Th-thank you, that.. means a lot, for you to do all this, especially since I know you came here to find Filbo.”

Snaplynn could only nod, before they pulled out their journal. “If you could just explain something to me?”

“Of course! What do you want to know?”

“Why do you want everyone back in Snaxburg so badly? You said they all went their own ways, but I can’t imagine that any of them are worse off than Wambus and Beffica were, and those two seemed fine..” they said, while Eggabell sighed.

“Wambus and Beffica were lucky.. but they might not have been! That’s the thing, they were out there and I’m  _ here, _ but so is everyone else. I can’t look after them all. No one is together, so if any of them got seriously hurt, we might not know until its too late, and I’d never forgive myself if something like that happened,” she said, her paws clenched tightly. “Before Liz left to go look for Filbo.. she asked me to try and bring everyone back to town. There’s safety in numbers and if we were all together again then even if something happened we’d have each other! Right now.. if someone else were to go missing or get really injured, I don’t know  _ what _ we would do. Liz said she can’t stay here while she’s looking for Filbo, so, the responsibility falls to me to try and dig us all out of this mess. I’ve been trying not to crack under the pressure, but it’s hard..” Easing themself up off the bed, they moved to stand next to her as she finished speaking, resting a paw on her shoulder.

Eggabell had so much to deal with and no one to rely on at that moment, that much was clear to them. They’d come to Snaktooth island looking for Filbo, but he had Elizabert searching for him while Eggabell didn’t have anybody to support her. They flicked their tail in annoyance. One of these days they’d get the full story about what exactly led up to the community she’d started here crumbling. But before that..

“You shouldn’t have to do all that by yourself, Doctor Batternugget. I’ll do my best to help, and maybe we can get this town back on its feet together,” they said softly, watching the confidence slowly return to her eyes.

“Yeah.. yeah! With Wambus back, we’ll have his sauce farm, and I won’t have to worry about Beffica getting into danger at least, she’s not really the type to do that sort of thing thankfully. I think you can find Gramble on the beach, he told me he was heading there before he left. He’s always been a caring sort, I think he hoped it’d make me less anxious, knowing where to find him just in case.”

Snaplynn nodded, sitting back down so they could add the new information to their notes. “Do you know where I might be able to find any of the others? It might take me a while to get to them all, but at the very least it’s good info to have,” they said, tapping a pen again the paper. “Plus, I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere until I stop getting dizzy when I stand up.”

Moving to sit next to them, Eggabell smiled warmly and pointed at the redrawn map on one of the pages while they listened intently, a plan to restore Snaxburg already forming in their mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyone else find it weird how Eggabell just doesn't acknowledge in canon how anyone else couldve gotten seriously injured, sick, or died without her in town? no? wild.


	5. Chapter 5

The last time she’d been in Snaxburg, she was down one best friend, and almost the entire population of the island was at each other’s throats. When she thought back hard to that night, she found that she remembered very little.

It was all noise, she’d run on autopilot, standing among the people she’d brought to Snaktooth, their shouting and snarling becoming nothing but meaningless sound to her as she waited for them all to stop.

She didn’t know how long she’d stood there, still reeling from shock. It would only be hours later that she realized no one had even asked her where Filbo was. A bitter part of her felt a pang of disgust at that. The grumps she’d brought with her were selfish, she’d known that when she invited them all along, but she thought that maybe being forced to trust one another would help them see that they couldn’t just rely on themselves.

But then again, how could she help them when she was selfish too?

Eggabell hadn’t left town, she was in their hut waiting when Liz stepped in. Their fight was still fresh in her mind, but after what had just happened, she didn’t have the energy to feel upset. Despite the things she’d said, Eggabell was still here, she hadn’t left like the others. Eggabell was-

“Bell... I- I lost Filbo-” she’d stopped, jaw trembling as she explained what happened before moving to grab her gear. She had to find him,  _ she had to- _

Before she left, Eggabell had taken Liz’s face between her paws, pressing a kiss to her snout. “You’ll bring him back, I know you will.”

“I’m sorry- I’m leaving again, and we haven’t even gotten to talk about..” Liz paused as Eggabell wrapped her arms around her neck.

“Go find Filbo, I’ll be here waiting for you.. the both of you,” she said, and Liz couldn’t stop herself from returning the embrace, choking down sobs as she buried her nose in Eggabell’s fur.

“I don’t deserve you.. I’ll make it up to you though, I promise I will, as soon as I bring him back-” Liz staggered back before picking up her things. “I hate to leave you like this, will you be okay? The others-”

“Maybe when everyone’s had a chance to cool off they’ll come back here?” Eggabell didn’t sound entirely confident about that, but what other options did they have?

“If.. if you can get them to come back to Snaxburg- I don’t want to think about what we’d have to do if someone else went missing, it’s not safe to be alone- I mean, I was with Filbo and-” she stopped short, forcing her self pity away. “They’re in danger if they stay out there.”

Eggabell nodded, clenching her paws. “I’ll try to bring them home,” she said firmly, her eyes softening as the stared at each other. “Good luck out there, Liz..”

“Thanks, Bell,” Liz winked, taking one last good look at her girl before turning and heading for the peak.

_ \- Present Day - _

_ “Filbo-!” _ Liz shot up, gasping heavily as the last vestiges of sleep fell away, replaced by the shock of cold. “Gah- passed out again..” She growled to herself as she buried herself beneath the snow once more, the hole she’d dug for herself was still warm, and she rubbed her paws together for a short time to heat them up before she turned towards the back of the burrow.

She was so near to breaking through to the other side that she could taste it. She’d spent way too long on the peak, her research and notes exhausted, and she wasn’t any closer to finding Filbo.

Ignoring the urge to curse the island’s instability once more, she worked her claws into the snow with a fervor. Once she was back in Snaxburg she could cross reference with the logs she’d left in her hut, she could sleep in a real bed again,  _ she could talk to Eggabell- _

Liz gasped as the snow wall gave away beneath her paws, tumbling forward onto much less chilly, but still cold ground. Blinking slowly, she waited a moment before sitting up, a tired smile making its way to her muzzle as she took in the sight of the sugarpine trees littering the landscape. “Well.. I’m not out of the woods yet,” she huffed, getting to her feet and pausing at the sight of a cabin just down the slope. “Huh, that’s new.”

It only took her a moment to climb down the rocky path, taking care to avoid the notice of the occasional bopsicle roaming the landscape. She was in no position to take any risks with any aggressive snax at the moment. While approaching the cabin, she perked up at the sound of two familiar voices.

“-andlo, no! I can’t come outside, it’ll draw unnecessary attention to our position!” Liz sighed fondly, she could pick out that paranoid rambling anywhere.

“Come on, Snorpy.. you can’t just stay indoors all the time.” And she knew that concerned coaxing too.

“I think you’ll find that I can, and I will!” Snorpy squawked. “Chandlo don’t you dare-!” Liz turned the corner just in time to see Chandlo hefting up the corner of the cabin up, grunting loudly while Snorpy practically jumped out of the structure to avoid being jostled. “Fine! I’m outside! Are you happy now?” His words petered off into mumbles about how their secrecy was compromised while Chandlo stood by and sighed fondly at the other’s antics.

Raising a paw in greeting, she waved at them. “Hey you two!” Snorpy squeaked with surprise at her appearance, and Chandlo looked at her with delighted recognition before concern filled his eyes.

“Whoa, hey! Lizbert! We haven’t seen you in ages!” Chandlo stepped forward and clasped her arm firmly, while she returned the gesture with as much enthusiasm she could muster despite how tired she was. “Man.. I hate to say it, but you ain’t looking so hot. Do you need any help getting back down to Snaxburg?”

Forcing a smile back onto her face, she shook her head. “I think I can manage, thank you. But what are you two doing all the way out here? It’s not safe..”

Snorpy shot a glare her way. “No, no I think we’re better off here, where we’re less likely to be noticed,” he said, inching back towards the cabin door. “In fact, how am I supposed to trust that you’re the real Elizabert Megafig? That sort of thing is just what a grumpinati spy would say to get us to lower our guard, an attempt at enticing us back to town despite its lack of proper defenses!”

Liz let out a long breath. “I’m not a spy, Snorpy, but you know, that reminds me,” her grin was pinched as she firmly slammed her paw into her open palm, “we never did have that arm wrestling rematch, did we?” He let out a nervous laugh in response.

“Ha ha.. hahaha... you know what, I think it is the real her,” he mumbled, before scrambling back into the cabin and peeking out the open upper half of the door. “But my point still stands! It’s not safe for us in Snaxburg, so we will be staying right here,  _ thank you very much.” _

The door slammed with finality, and Liz couldn’t help but sigh. So much for that.

“I don’t suppose you could get him to change his mind..?” She turned to Chandlo and watched him shake his head slowly.

“No can do, Lizbert. You know me, I go where Snorpy goes, and if he ain’t going anywhere, then neither am I,” he said, soft but firmly. “I’d love to go back to Snaxburg, but the place isn’t so good for his social anxiety right now.. Maybe later though, I’ll try and change his mind if I can.” She reached over to squeeze his shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“Thanks, Chandlo. You know I’m not saying this for myself..” she watched him shoot a nervous glance at the cabin before nodding at her once. “Well, I better be off. Take care of yourselves, you know where to find us.”

She gave him one more parting wave before returning to the trail, the air warming around her as she descended.

It was only a few moments later that she saw the tops of the huts come into view. Pausing just before the slope down to the bridge, she ignored the pricking of tears at the corners of her eyes. Her second time coming back to Snaxburg since the incident, and Filbo wasn’t with her this time either.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself before picking up the pace. She was almost home, and she hadn’t given up.

She’d come back for him, again and again, until he was back home too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry to anyone anticipating actual gramble™ content, i promise he'll get his time in the spotlight eventually~


	6. Chapter 6

Her first step back into Snaxburg felt strange.

It was still the same town, of course, but the huts were no longer covered in greenery, most of them were showing some signs of falling apart. Cromdo’s roof had caved in at some point, and the mill had definitely seen better days, but there were still some promising signs there. Her and Eggabell’s hut still looked in good condition, and when she passed the research tent she could see Wambus working in his garden, a few sauce plants blooming.

“Elizabert? Is that you?” the grumpus in question looked up at her in surprise, one paw lightly lifting the rim of his hat.

“Hey, Wambus,” she smiled tiredly at him, her paw half raised as she lurched forward, a wave of fatigue passing over her.

She didn’t hear the sound of him dropping his tools as he quickly crossed the square to catch her arm. “Whoa there- don’t go knocking out on us now, we’ve had enough of that these past few days.” Blinking slowly, she stood up and let him help her towards her and Eggabell’s hut. As soon as her back made contact with her bed she felt like melting, a deep, bone weary sigh escaping her. “You gon’ be alright there?”

Oh right, Wambus was still there. “I’ll be fine, thank you, just need a bit to catch my breath..” He hesitated in the doorway. “Where’s Bell? If I feel any worse for wear, I’ll go ask her for help.”

“She’s over in Filbo’s hut with the Stranger goin’ over plans and whatnot,” he said, his gaze turning fond, “You know I wasn’t sure what to make of them at first, but they helped me with my farm, and they said they’d try and convince Triffy to come home, so I figure they’re alright in my book.”

Liz felt her brain screech to a halt. “Wait- hold on, Stranger?  _ Who?” _

Wambus gave her an odd look. “Y’didn’t know? They said you invited them here.”  _ She’d done no such thing. _

“Ohhh... right, right, I do know who you’re talking about-  _ well, _ that’s great, that they got here safely,” she said, completely lost, “I’ll go talk to them in a while, just.. need to lie down for a minute, or three.”

“In that case, I’ll be off,” he nodded, tipping his hat, “holler if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Wambus,” she let her voice trail off as he left, before dropping her head against the pillows. Her pack dug uncomfortable into her body, and she winced as something sharp dug into her side. Sitting up, she pulled off her gear and dropped it on the floor. All her previous exhaustion was forgotten after that short conversation.

There was someone new in Snaxburg, someone she hadn’t invited along on the expedition. Her tired brain struggled to come up with an answer as to how this could’ve happened. Stray traveler? Another explorer come to try and claim Snaktooth’s secrets for themself? She couldn’t rest with the unknown waiting for her just a few steps away.

And they were with Eggabell.

Drawing in a heavy breath, she forced herself to stand, all fatigue pushed to the back of her mind as she stumbled out of her hut and towards the one next to hers. Filbo’s hut-

She stood outside of it, trying to ignore how she was starting to pant before glancing around the corner. Eggabell was standing directly in front of them, obscuring her view, but she was gesturing about something.

“-and after the storm we had to patch his barn back together, but all the snax got loose right? He wanted us to try and catch them all but I think the others just told him they ‘got away’, so he doesn’t really trust most of us. I’m not sure how you’d convince them there won’t be a repeat of that again,” Eggabell hummed under her breath.

When Liz stepped closer she could see the other grumpus in the room, her eyes widening in surprise. “Well, we both know I can’t eat snax already, so that put him a bit at ease..” they said, paw against their chin, “but trying to show him that there’s no need for anyone to eat his snax anymore.. I’m alright at catching them but I’m not that good. Not yet anyway.” Liz froze when they looked up, deep amber eye flashing with recognition, and beneath that, something else she couldn’t place.

“Bell-” she started, before yelping when Eggabell gasped, spinning around and rushing towards her, arms wrapping around her in a quick hug before she pulled back to look up at her with delight.

“Liz! You’re back! Is Filbo..?” Her paws settled on Eggabell’s before she shook her head slowly. “Oh.. But you made some progress?”

“Yeah,” Liz felt her insides twist at the lie, “I’m getting closer, came back to town for some more of my notes, so I’ll probably head back up to the peak in a day or two.. I would’ve come back sooner but there was an avalanche and I had to dig my way back out-”

_ “Oh my grump _ are you alright?” Eggabell was suddenly on her, lifting her arms, pressing her paw against certain points. “Does it hurt anywhere? Your vision is okay, right? No frostbite, numbness?” Liz couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her, leaning down to press a kiss to Eggabell’s forehead as the other blinked in surprise.

_ “Eggabell.. _ I’m alright, a little tired, but no worse for wear,” she said softly, “no additional scars to add to my collection this time, unfortunately.”

At that, Eggabell huffed softly. “I should hope not! But.. thank you, for not taking any risks,” she smiled before squeaking with shock, “Oh! I can’t believe I forgot, I’m so sorry! Liz, this is Snaplynn Sootspur, they’re-”

“Elizabert Megafig.” Liz looked up at the other grumpus in the room, their gaze cold. “We’ve met.”

“You have?” Eggabell asked, surprised, while the same question echoed in Liz’s own head. She didn’t recognize them, even as they narrowed their eye at her, paws clutching a journal in their lap. “You didn’t tell me that, Snaplynn.”

“I’m sorry, Doctor Batternugget, I didn’t think it was important, compared to what we were doing, that is,” they said, their voice monumentally warmer towards Eggabell than them. It took all her self control to not mouth  _ Doctor Batternugget _ in confusion, when was the last time she’d heard someone refer to her wife with such formality? “But here we are. I’m reasonably certain you don’t remember me, Megafig, but I remember you,” their words were clipped as they stood, walking towards her with measured steps before jabbing the end of their pen against her chest.

Liz was trying, so, so hard to not let her jaw hang open. “Now, listen here, I don’t know who you think you are-”

“Ah, and that’s where you have it wrong, I do know who I am. I’m someone who doesn’t particularly care for your methods,” they snapped, and quickly glancing to the side, she could see Eggabell looking nervously between the two of them. “Now they’ve actually put the person I care about the most in harm’s way, and by grump you are going to  _ fix it.” _

“Isn’t this the part where you say ‘or else’?” _ Shut up, Lizbert, shut up! _

Their eye narrowed once more as they shoved their way past her. “No, it isn’t.”

Turning slightly to stare at their back as they walked away, Liz took a steadying breath before looking back at her wife. “What... was that?” 

“I- I don’t know! I’ve never seen them like that before, they’re usually so nice..” Eggbell brought her paws up to her face.

“’Bell.. are you safe? They haven’t tried anything, have they?” She reached towards Eggabell’s shoulder only to have her paw brushed away.

“No, no! Of course not! Snaplynn isn’t- they’re not-” she let out a noise of frustration, “I don’t understand why they reacted that way!” 

She might’ve chased the journalist down immediately after their conversation in Filbo’s hut, but as it was, Eggabell probably would’ve scolded her even more for exerting herself at all. Liz dragged her feet back to her own bed, with Eggabell carefully watching over her until she was once again lying flat against the mattress, covers haphazardly wrapped around herself while her wife checked her for a fever. By then she’d been too tired to argue further, warmth and the familiar sensation of Eggabell lying next to her quickly melting down the walls of unease around her thoughts as she felt her mind quiet for the first time in weeks.

“Thankfully you didn’t catch anything up there, even though you spent so much time in the cold..” Eggabell mumbled under her breath, sitting beside Liz before she yelped as she was pulled under the blankets, cold paws against her back. “Liz!”

They were both giggling before her exhaustion finally caught up with her, and Liz let out a bone weary sigh, resting her jaw against Eggabell’s shoulder. “I’m sorry- none of this has been turning out the way it was supposed to..”

“I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted how this would turn out,” Eggabell lightly patted her shoulder, “but you’re trying, aren’t you? And, I know you and Snaplynn got off to a rocky start, but they’ll warm up to you! They said they’ve met you before?” 

Liz hummed under her breath, already starting to feel her eyes closing of their own accord. “I don’t remember them, but, I do have an idea of why they’re mad at me, and if I’m correct, then I am in... a whole lot of trouble.”


	7. Chapter 7

Morning was an odd affair.

Rested and properly awake, Liz spent the morning trying to hunt down Snaplynn, to no success.

_ “Eggabell..” _ she whined softly while her wife glanced at her from where she was going over her supplies- a small kit in paw, being carefully packed with supplies for when Liz returned to the peak to resume her search. “I can’t find them, they’re gone.”

“They’re still here, you’re just not looking in the right place.”

“Alright then, where do you suggest I look?” Liz flicked her tail in annoyance as Eggabell picked herself up, closing the kit with a click and handing it to her before ushering her out the door and using a paw to tilt her head in the direction of the ship wedged into the hillside.

“You might want to start there.”

When she turned around, Eggabell was already back to attending to her things. Looking back at the kit in her paws, Liz sighed before starting up the hill.

The ship was well weathered but in surprisingly good condition, some parts of it were clearly in disrepair, but it seemed taken care of. Faintly, she realized that this would explain how the journalist had made it to the island.

“Hello? Snaplynn?” she called, peering over the edge of the deck. “Y’there?”

There was a faint sound of paws on wood, and when she looked to the left she could see a hinge door on the deck raise slightly, a single eye peering out from the darker corner. “What do you want,  _ Megafig?” _ They said curtly.

“I just wanted to talk.”

“Oh, that’s nice for you, I suppose.” The latch closed sharply and Liz held in a growl before she hoisted herself up onto the deck, kneeling on the wood and rapping hard against the door with her paw.

“Don’t you  _ ‘that’s nice’ _ me! This is important!” she hissed, “If you don’t like me that’s fine, but you need to actually tell me what your issue with me is!”

When she moved back, the door opened once more, and Snaplynn leaned out of it, arms folded on the deck, an unimpressed expression fixed on their face as they wiped..  _ something _ away from their muzzle. “Give me one good reason why I should do that.”

Liz squinted at them. “Because as it stands all I have to go off of for the moment is a hunch, and I know as well as you do that if Filbo is going to get found then we..have to work together,” she said, finally letting the defeat wash over her as she screwed her eyes shut. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re mad at me because I lost him. I asked him to come here, put him in harm's way, and I couldn’t keep him safe-”

“No! You couldn’t!” She reared back as the other grumpus suddenly surged upward, their paw snatching a fistful of her fur as they snarled. “We were doing just fine back on the mainland and you-  _ you ruined that! _ You knew he wouldn’t-  _ couldn’t _ say no to you and brought him here anyway. Why? Filbo isn’t like you, Megafig, he’s not a go-getter, he doesn’t decide to go on grand adventures for the sake of a thrill, he did it for  _ your _ approval,  _ your _ validation,  _ your _ praise because it meant something to him.” They let go and pushed her firmly back, shoulders shaking, while she stared at them, unable to find her own voice.

“He  _ trusted _ you, Elizabert, and now he’s- he’s somewhere, probably scared, not knowing if he’ll ever be found, and no one- no one else besides you, me, and Doctor Batternugget cares enough to so much as even try looking for him-” Liz looked up sharply when their words were cut off with a hiccup. Wet droplets hit the wooden floor of the ship as tears streaked down their face. “You...did this. I’m glad, you know, that you’re trying to fix it. I know I have to trust that you’ll do your best to make this right, but it doesn’t change the fact that it wouldn’t have happened if you’d just... left well enough alone, left  _ Filbo _ alone, and let him be his own person without having to keep him in your shadow.”

“I-” she started, before catching herself, at a sudden loss with what to say. “I didn’t know-”

“Well. Now you do,” they said flatly, before wiping their face with the back of their paw. “So now that you know my reasons, you’re going to tell me yours. Why drag all these grumps out here to this island, hm? I know it isn’t because of the bugsnax. If you were really serious about exploring this island, cataloguing its creatures, researching it- I’m sure you would’ve brought a proper team.”

At that, Liz couldn’t help but laugh, a sharp, joyless noise. “You’re right and wrong about that. I was-  _ am _ serious about exploring this island, getting to learn its secrets.. and I did bring a proper team! Maybe, not the best acclimated one, but still. The grumpuses I brought with me know what they’re doing, I just...” she paused, staring down at the kit that Eggabell had given her- now strapped to her belt. “I thought I was doing what was best for everybody. You might not have met everyone yet, but these grumpuses? They all chose to come with me for a reason, even ‘Bell.”

Snaplynn’s snout scrunched up as if they’d just smelled something foul. “You’d really do that to your own wife? Doctor Batternugget-”

_ “Eggabell _ is a skilled doctor and can handle herself! She doesn’t need me to tell her how to do her job- no one does! None of them need me,  _ I need them!” _ she hadn’t realized her voice was raising until she noted the other had taken a step back, an apprehensive look on their face before she glanced around, paws clenched. “There. You have your answer. I hope you’re happy.”

Liz wasted no time in hopping off the ship, her legs carrying her away from town- towards the Garden Grove and away from the journalist and her own traitorous thoughts.

◉◉

It was near sunset by the time she arrived back in Snaxburg, mind a little more clear, but still troubled.

“Liz? Where were you?” Eggabell was sitting next to the campfire, Snaplynn across from her, furiously writing in their journal and pointedly ignoring Liz as she sat down next to her wife with hardly a sound, one paw reaching back to dig around in her pack before pulling out-  _ “Oh wow! _ Is that a poptick?”

“It’s a caramel variant! It started raining near the falls and that's when they usually come out of hiding. Managed to snag one for you on my way back,” she said softly, ignoring how Snaplynn eyed the snak warily. “Do you like it?”

“I love it!” Eggabell beamed and downed it in two bites, giggling even as one of her paws gained light brown splotches. “Thanks, Liz..” She leaned her head against her wife’s shoulder and Liz relaxed slightly, slinging a paw around her hip. “Any idea of what you’ll be doing tomorrow Snaplynn?”

Liz tried not to tense when the other grump looked up from their writing, a neutral look solidly affixed across their face. “I still haven’t had very much luck with getting Gramble off the beach.. Wiggle doesn’t seem interested in leaving without him either so I think I’m going to have to switch targets for now before they dig their heels in,” they said, tapping their pen against their journal. “Is there anyone else I could find nearby who might be easier to convince?”

“Chandlo and Snorpy said they might come back- if they feel like Snaxburg is safer than where they’re staying now,” Liz felt the words tumblr out before she could stop them. Snaplynn shot her a quick look of surprise before they steeled their expression once more.

“I don’t think I’ve met them yet, are they up on the peak?”

“No, in the woods. Chandlo built them a cabin, he was the one who constructed most of the huts here,” she said measuredly. “I met up with them on my way down from the mountain, tried to convince them to come back but Snorpy can be.. difficult to persuade once he gets certain ideas in his head.” Liz sighed and Eggabell smothered a laugh with her paw.

Interestingly enough, that got Snaplynn’s attention. “Ideas? What kind of ideas?”

Eggabell grinned, “He’s got an entire board of conspiracy theories, and thinks that this island is under control of a secret society or something like that.” She sighed amusedly. At her side, Liz bit the inside of her cheek, memories of meeting with Snorpy behind the mill as they cross-referenced each other’s notes. Gritting her teeth, she realized that she’d need his help again if she wanted to get to Filbo, which meant-

“Interesting.. I think I’ll try them next. At the very least, he sounds like he might be fun to talk to. I’m not really into singing, or,” Snaplynn shuddered, “listening to Gramble detail all his attempts at getting his bugsnax to procreate.”

Liz barked out a laugh. “Did he talk your ear off about his pair of kweebles?”

“Yes. Unfortunately,” Snaplynn grimaced, flagging slightly before returning to writing in their journal. “I’ll head up to the forest tomorrow then.”

“If Chandlo and Snorpy come back we’ll be able to get the mill running again and we can finally fix up the other huts properly,” Eggabell said excitedly, clasping her paws together. “I’ve really missed Chandlo.. maybe now we can start exercising together again.”

Straightening up, Liz pulled Eggabell closer towards her. “Huh! I forgot you two were working out. Chandlo I get- but that sounds kind of unlike you, ‘Bell. What made you want to start?”

Eggabell stiffened, eyes darting away from her wife’s face. “Oh,  _ uh-” _

“Doctor Batternugget, would you say that there’s any credence to Snorpy’s theories? I want to know what kind of angle I should approach with getting him back to Snaxburg,” Snaplynn interrupted before Eggabell could finish, and Liz held in a huff of annoyance.

“I, um, actually wouldn’t know. You’d have to ask him for more details, every time he tries to tell me about it I usually forget after a few minutes, I can never keep up,” she said sheepishly before lightly nudging Liz with her elbow. “Hey, didn’t you two talk like.. all the time? You’d always stand behind the mill because you thought you were being sneaky but we all just pretended not to know because it was funny to watch you two play spy?”

_ “Eggabell!” _ Liz whined. So much for that.

Snaplynn fixed Liz with an indecipherable look. “If you two are familiar with each other then maybe you should come with me. Snorpy and Chandlo might be more receptive if they have someone they know to talk to- like how Wambus and Beffica trusted me since Eggabell introduced us to each other.”

She didn’t quite know how to feel about that. On one hand, they weren’t at her throat anymore. On the other, she wasn’t sure what they were playing at. Memories of earlier in the day replayed in her head while she lifted a paw to her chin. “Maybe.. Though I was hoping to be back at the peak by morning.”

Eggabell frowned. “You’re leaving already?”

“Have to, ‘Bell, I’m so close to figuring this out- getting him back,” she said, a weariness in her voice, “It’s already been weeks, time is of the essence..”

“Then we’ll leave now.” Both her and Eggabell quickly turned their heads towards Snaplynn, who was standing as they put their journal away in their pack. “The sun is still setting, if we start up the trail we can make it to Snorpy and Chandlo’s cabin before dark, then stay the night. We’ll have a chance to talk to them together and you can be up to the peak before the sun rises.” They stared back at the two of them before tilting their head slightly. “What? I checked the map- it isn’t much farther away than anywhere else..”

Liz tried not to frown. The idea of traveling, even for a short while, with  _ Snaplynn _ had her fur standing up on edge. But.. they were right, and their plan was efficient..

“Alright, if you’re certain, then let’s get a move on. Can’t waste time,” she said firmly, nodding as the other left to gather their things. Turning back to Eggabell, she took her wife’s face between her paws. “I’m almost there.. once he’s back..” Liz paused, taking in a sharp breath. “I need you to know.. how much it means to me that you’re still here.”

Eggabell smiled tiredly, taking Liz’s paws in her own and squeezing them. “I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered, the affection in her voice rich, and warmer than the fire they were in front of. “Be safe, and come back to me, okay?”

“Oh ‘Bell.. you know I always will.”


	8. Chapter 8

Liz hefted up her pack and took one step onto the bridge before glancing back towards town. How many more of Snaxburg’s inhabitants would be back the next time she returned? The thought made her feel a little lighter, even with Snaplynn shooting her a look as they brushed past her on the way up the trail.

Taking one more moment to soak in the hope of having everything back the way it was, she turned to hurry after them, noting the determined look on their face. “You know, I think I finally figured out your problem.”

They didn’t even look her way. “You solved that before you could remember who I am? Color me impressed.” In no way did they sound impressed.

Liz groaned, crossing her arms over her chest as she slowed to keep pace with them, before saying, “Actually I did remember who you are, but more importantly I remembered our first meeting.” They actually seemed to stumble slightly at her response, their eye narrowing as they took a few quick strides to make up for the misstep. “I didn’t realize it at first, that you were the roommate Filbo always went on about.”

“And I didn’t realize that he didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut around you,” they snapped, their expression turning distraught an instant later, “...Doctor Batternugget said you two talked about me..”

For the first time since their most recent meeting, Liz really  _ saw _ past the wall they put up around her. She couldn’t blame them for being angry, not really. They’d come looking for their best friend, and she was the reason he wasn’t here to greet them, and the reason they now had to struggle to fix something that was never their responsibility. Of course they’d be upset. But there was more to it than that.

“We did, he was always telling me about how much he missed you. He wrote letters, you know. After we figured out how to send the first one he made a whole bunch. I think.. he was waiting for your reply before he tried sending the others,” she spoke softly as they climbed the path up towards the forest, the air gaining a hint of a chill as Snaxburg became smaller and smaller in the distance. “You look a lot different from before, you know. Didn’t realize you’d lost your eye.”

They stared at her for a moment before turning away, focusing their gaze forward. “It’s not gone, just useless enough that it’s not worth the effort,” they sounded tired, and the darkening sky wasn’t helping. “I think Filbo assumed a lot of things about us. Namely that we’d get along just because of our professions.”

Liz blinked. “What, so he was wrong about the paranormal investigator and the explorer of strange and wondrous places having a lot in common? If I remember correctly, I wanted to work with you in the past.”

“Yeah well, I didn’t want to work with you.”

“..Because of Fil-”

_ “Because of Filbo,” _ they snapped. Liz turned away with a sigh. She’d remembered as they were preparing to leave Snaxburg. Snaplynn was Filbo’s best friend and roommate, a celebrated and respected journalist with a flair for reporting grand oddities on an impressive scale. He’d asked them to interview her, as a favor, and they had agreed, except when she met with them for the interview all the questions had been..exceedingly personal. “Do you know how many times I had to tell you no  _ for _ him? The calls I wouldn’t let him answer, and when he was so sick he couldn’t even make it two steps out of bed, but I still had to convince him not to go out and help you because he didn’t want you to be disappointed in him?” Not sure what to say, she held her tongue, watching Snaplynn out of the corner of her eye as they grew more agitated.

“Did I want him getting hurt? Of course not! But that’s what would happen if he spent all his time trying to please you, Megafig. Then he came  _ here,”  _ their words trailed into a growl.

“Look I  _ tried _ to do what was best for him-”

“And that turned out  _ so _ fantastic for everyone involved-” they drawled. “Why don’t you just admit that you actually have no idea what you’re doing. You practically said as much this morning, the front you’ve put up is-” Liz tuned them out as a distant sound caught her attention. Grabbing their shoulder with one paw she scanned the horizon as they finally made it past the worst of the trek and into the forest.

Ignoring their hiss at the unwelcome touch, she looked back at them. “Did you hear that?”

Snaplynn rolled their eye. “I didn’t hear any-” a loud crash came from somewhere to the east of where they were standing,  _ “-thing.” _

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Liz looked straight up at Snorpy and Chandlo’s cabin. They could make it if they sprinted- her breathing suddenly picking up speed as another crash sounded, closer than the one before it.

She didn’t realize that all the snax that usually inhabited the area, even at night, were nowhere to be seen. Snaplynn appeared to be thinking along a similar line of thought as her, and the two nodded sharply as a loud thumping became audible.

“We go on three..” she said, as softly as she could, her paws gripping the straps of her pack tightly.  _ “Three!” _

They both bolted, darting up the slope as the pounding drew nearer, unwilling to stop and look back before they slipped into the cabin, pulling the door closed behind them and startling both Chandlo and Snorpy, who were sitting at the table across the room, a single candle illuminating the space.

Snorpy spluttered at their appearance. “What- who are you and what are you doing here!?”

“Put that out- put out the candle n _ ow!” _ Snaplynn whisper-shouted, and Snorpy had the nerve to look half offended.

“I don’t know who you are, barging in here without so much as a knock-” he started, before Liz slapped a paw across her face.

“Snorpy do as they say!” she hissed, and he flinched before conceding, quickly blowing out the candle before the  _ something _ outside finally drew near the cabin, heavy footfalls just outside the door causing the very wood to rattle. “Both of you-” Liz spoke slow and quiet, “get under the table..”

Chandlo and Snorpy obeyed just as the creature caught up with them. Liz slapped a paw over her muzzle as she pressed herself down against the floor, Snaplynn copying her as their gaze fixated on the boarded up window across from them. She’d never make fun of Snorpy for being paranoid for the rest of her life, she thought, as a heavy, wet gurgling noise came from behind the wooden slats.

While her body was consumed with fear of the uncertainty over what lay outside, part of her brain was wondering what it could possibly be. It was large, she knew that much, large enough to make the cabin tremble. Was it a huge bugsnak? She knew some existed out in the wilds- snax that were most likely hundreds of years old, grown impossibly big over time. It was a possibility, but if she were wrong..

Inside the cabin, no one dared to even breathe as the heavy thuds just beyond the wooden walls circled the building once, twice, the entire time a sound that could only be described as  _ sticky rumbling _ shook the structure before eventually, the creature- whatever it was -slowly departed.

Liz waited until she could no longer hear it before she let out a sigh of relief, though she didn’t expect Snaplynn to immediately jump to their feet, snaxscope in paw, ready to throw the door open and rush outside. Gasping sharply, she grabbed their tail, ignoring how their fangs clicked together a short distance from her face.  _ “Hold on- _ where do you think you’re going?”

They seemed breathless, a manic look in their eye as they clutched the snaxscope tighter. “Whatever that was is something new- I have to document it!”

Completely dumbfounded, Liz stared up at them for a moment. “Are you mad!? You can’t go out there and chase it down! That thing was big enough to make this whole place quiver like a flag in the wind and you want to  _ follow it?” _ She half-screamed, unwilling to raise her voice too high should the giant-something hear her and return. Turning to the other two occupants, she scanned them for a moment, “Are you two okay?”

“Uhhh.. I guess so? That was kinda grumped up if I’m being honest,” Chandlo was the first to respond, his eyes blown wide before he looked at Snorpy. “Snorp-dawg, I might be strong, but whatever that thing was, is  _ strong _ strong.”

Snorpy almost didn’t notice what the other said, muttering under his breath,  _ “-another Grumpinati scheme, they’ve gone on the offensive-” _

Liz groaned, yanking Snaplynn back and away from the door before swiftly pushing them to the ground, leaning against their back with one leg and ignoring their snarls of indignity. “Listen, you can be mad at me all you want, but as nice as he is, Filbo would kill me if I let you get eaten by a monster, so we’re all staying here until morning, and then the three of you are heading back to Snaxburg.” Beneath her, Snaplynn continued to growl for a moment before the fight left them, they huffed sharply before accepting their place on the ground, and Liz gave them what she hoped was a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Any objections, Snorpington?”

“Haha, none whatsoever! I believe that our position here is compromised, we shall have to set up proper defenses in Snaxburg though- to keep that  _ creature _ away from our settlement-” he said, shuffling out from under the table and pressing a paw against his chest. “But now might I ask, who are you?” Snorpy turned to Snaplynn just as Liz let them up before she took a position in front of the door, as a precautionary measure.

As introductions were made between the other three gumpuses, Liz carefully opened the upper half of the door just a sliver, peering out of the gap and scanning the outside. In the distance a massive shadow was perched on a rocky outcropping, moonlight illuminating its silhouette.

It’s head turned ever so slightly and she pulled the door shut in a single twitch, her breathing picking up.

Squeezing her eyes closed, she glanced back at the others. “I don’t think it’s safe for us to all sleep through the night,” she said warily, and Chandlo nodded, crossing his arms.

“Yeah.. one of us should stay up in case it comes back- so we can warn the others,” he said, much less alarmed than expected. She caught him staring at Snorpy, who was lost in conversation with Snaplynn. Liz felt something tighten in her chest.

“I’ll keep first watch,” she moved towards the windows, dragging one of the chairs over to it so she could sit and watch through the gaps in the boards. “You should all try and get some rest.” As Snorpy and Chandlo moved to get comfortable on the cot in the corner, Snaplynn sat in the other chair across from Liz. She glanced towards them before looking back out the window. “Going to tell me off for grabbing you earlier?”

Their snout wrinkled, an irritated look passing over their face before they sighed. “No... Thank you, for stopping me,” they mumbled, “I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Heh.. thrill of the chase? I can understand that. But there’s someone who needs you right now, can’t be taking risks like that if you want to find him, you know?” she gave them a half grin, noting the flicker of contemplation in their eyes.

“You’re right, but,” they pulled their snaxscope off their neck, opening one of the side compartments and pulling out a photo before handing it to her, “don’t forget there’s someone else who needs you too.”

Liz hesitantly accepted the picture, almost immediately tearing up at the sight of it- her and Eggabell standing next to each other, right before they’d left a few hours ago. Her wife’s wistful expression was illuminated by the glow of the fire, and her own eyes looked sad and tired, but there was an undeniable connection between them. Their paws were intertwined, and she knew this was taken immediately after she’d given Eggabell a farewell kiss.

Breathing in sharply, she slipped the photo into one of the pouches on her belt before nodding at Snaplynn. “Thank you.. I’ll remember that.” She watched them stare down at the table’s surface for a moment, listless and tired as the day’s activity and the adrenaline from their recent harrowing experience finally left them, “He’s still out there, you know. I'm certain he is, and I’m going to bring him back no matter what.”

As they crossed their arms on the table so they could rest their head, Snaplynn shot her a final wry look. “You'd better, Megafig..” Their eyes closed soon after, and once their breathing evened out she returned to staring out the window, noting that the shadow overlooking the mountainside was now gone.

Vaguely, she got the sense that she was running out of time.


	9. Chapter 9

The night after the scare with the unidentified monster-snak had Snaplynn on edge, they gripped their snaxscope so hard that they were sure clawmarks would show on the sides. Snorpy was taking his sweet time packing up his supplies while they and Chandlo stood guard outside of the cabin. Lizbert had already left for the peak, but not before quickly checking the path down the mountain to see if it was safe. When she returned with the all clear, Snaplynn was forced to begrudgingly admit that they respected her actions the previous night.

But that didn’t mean they had to like her.

“Snorp-dawg you realize we gotta move, right? ‘Lynn says they need to get going,” Chandlo leaned towards the door before sighing fondly. “Sorry, dude, once he starts something it’s pretty hard to get him to stop..”

They blinked. “Uh, it’s no problem, I get how it is..” they mumbled, forcing their thoughts back into the present. “So how long have you two been a thing?”

“Oh man, me and Snorpy have been together since always, can’t remember a time when he wasn’t there,” he grinned, lightly scratching at his cheek, gaze full of warmth.

“I meant like.. uh, not together but  _ Together?” _ Snaplynn tilted their head as Chandlo’s expression turned distant before a bright smile appeared on his face.

Leaning back against the cabin’s exterior, he crossed his arms, “Ahh.. that must’ve been a couple years ago? We moved in together and that’s been that! I came here to test my limits but I wasn’t coming without him. Snorpy is..” he paused, a dreamy look in his eyes, “he’s everything, y’know?”

Trying not to let jealousy flood their heart, they turned their gaze to the horizon. “Yeah, I do.”

If they’d been looking his way, they would’ve seen the contentedness in his gaze turn to concern as Chandlo watched them. “Hey, I don’t think you ever told me why you came to Snaktooth, huh? I woulda remembered if Lizbert invited you along, and I don’t know if I’d buy it that you just stumbled upon the island.”

Snaplynn glanced back at him, mildly surprised at his words. “Well I..” for the first time since arriving they felt sheepish. No one else on the island, besides perhaps Eggabell and possibly Lizbert, could’ve known about their true motive. “I came here.. looking to reunite with someone very important to me.”

Chandlo asked, “Is it Filbo?” and they coughed sharply, turning to him with a nervous smile.

“W-why do you say Filbo?”

“’Lynn, dude, if you were looking for anyone else you’d have found them by now,” he said confidently, “But Filbo’s been gone for weeks..”

“I- I know-” They blinked, their eyes suddenly stinging slightly, “I know that...”

Chandlo moved to stand a little closer to them, lightly nudging them with his elbow. “Hey, come on man don’t look so down in the dumps. Lizbert’s been looking for him for a while too! She’ll bring him back. Then you two can finally talk to each other again,” he said softly, and they took a few steadying breaths before meeting his gaze.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it,” they mumbled, almost to themself, before clearing their throat and turning to bang on the wall of the cabin with one fist. “Snorpy if you’re not out here in the next few minutes I’m going to drag you to Snaxburg by the tail!”

Grinning, Chandlo leaned over to echo them, “And I’m not gonna stop them, dawg!”

The sound of panicked rustling from within the cabin increased. “Do  _ not _ let them drag me to Snaxburg by the tail, Chandlo!”

“Would you prefer I carried you?”

They both laughed at Snorpy’s responding squawk.

◉◉

Eggabell was overjoyed when the trio made it back to Snaxburg, Chandlo wrapping his arms around her and lifting her into a powerful- but gentle -hug before asking her how her workout regimine was going. She laughed sheepishly at the question before asking if he could show her the basics again while they worked together to rebuild the huts.

With the two of them busy, that left Snaplynn with..

“Snorpy-” they caught him as he finished setting up his conspiracy board- red string lines carefully placed in a manner they couldn’t possibly decipher. “I have a question for you.”

He eyed them suspiciously. “Ask away, chum, but be warned, I will answer at my own discretion,” he waved a paw at them and they tried not to roll their eye.

“Anyway, I’m trying to get the rancher back, Gramble Gigglefunny?” they started, watching him narrow his eyes but nod slowly for them to continue, “He says he doesn’t want to come back to town without written confirmation that its occupants won’t eat his snax, so I’m going to need you to sign off on that for me,  _ later _ though, because my main question is this- do you know how bugsnax reproduce?” They opened their journal and turned on their recorder.

Snorpy tapped his chin with his paw, “Well I do have some theories about it- personally I believe there is a factory stationed on the island, and the bugsnax are synthetic organisms manufactured deep underground before being pumped to the surface-”

_ “What-” _

“Though alternatively it could be that they multiply through splitting apart and forming new, separate entities. No doubt by now you have seen how some larger snax will split into smaller counterparts, yes?” they nodded, already feeling themself getting lost. “My sibling Floofty- pray that you never cross paths with them, by the way -hypothesized that the older a bugsnax is, the larger it is. So I imagine that smaller snax eventually grow into these bigger individuals, then eventually are broken down into smaller snax by an outside force, and thus the cycle repeats!”

Snaplynn blinked at him before looking down at their tape, stopping the recording. “Thanks, Snorpy, that was...informative,” they narrowed their eyes, the memory of their encounter from the previous night still fresh in their mind. “How old do you think a bugsnak would have to be for it to get as large as the thing outside the cabin yesterday?”

He made an inquisitive noise, “That might be hard to determine without examining the creature in question, but one could estimate.. perhaps a hundred years or so? I’d have to consult my charts- do remind me to show you my charts later!”

Letting out a dry laugh, they closed their journal. “I will, Snorpy, thank you.”

Leaving the mill, they strolled through town, trying to organize their thoughts. Sitting by the unlit campfire, they went over their notes.

Gramble still wouldn’t leave the beach, and Wiggle wouldn’t leave without Gramble. They had no interest in asking Cromdo to return to Snaxburg yet because he was  _ so _ unpleasant, and they’d yet to find Triffany’s dig site in the desert. It was looking like they’d have to do a little digging themself.

-

“Heyyyyy there bestie! What’s up?” Beffica sat up in bed, a grin already on her face before Snaplynn took a single step into her hut.

“Hi Beffy,” they said amicably, watching as she crossed her legs, resting one elbow on her knee as they entered. “I need info on Wambus’ whole..  _ thing _ with his wife.” She quirked an eyebrow and they sighed. “I have payment..”

Her eyes lit up as they reached into their pack and pulled out a snakpod- one of her favorite kinds -and dropped it into her open paw. “Aww, you know me so well..” she almost purred before tossing it back into her mouth whole, humming with delight even as her paw, already shifted orange by the same kind of snak, took on a gummy-like consistency. “So. Deets on Wambus. He's married, as you know. His wife Triffany is an archaeologist, I heard she stopped coming back to town because Wambus wouldn’t come visit her dig site, she’s more one for pulling stuff out of the dirt versus putting stuff into it, heh.”

Snaplynn nodded along, writing in their journal as she spoke. “Are they still together, in a sense?”

“Uhh, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it’d be pretty hard to get a divorce here on Snaktooth,” Beffica laughed sharply before her voice went the slightest bit softer, “but even if they could, I don’t think they’d go that far.. they were pretty into each other when they weren’t arguing. When they agreed on something it was actually really sweet. I respect Triffany for not letting Wambus push her around though, ugh, what a Queen.”

“So if I could get them to make up proper then I might be able to get her back to town?” They looked up at her as they closed the journal, “I’ll be honest with you, I’m.. not really good with relationship stuff. Plus I don’t know where to find Triffany either..”

Beffica faux yawned before waving them off. “I have utmost faith in you bestie, but also, just ask Wambus. He’s so desperate to see her again I’m pretty sure he’s gonna start making out with his cactus wife soon.”

“His cactus  _ what?” _

-

Wambus was still working in his garden by the time they’d finished questioning Beffica, he was standing over his sauce crop, brows creased as he inspected the ranch plant. They called out as they approached, watching his head turn towards them before he tipped his hat slightly. “Hey Wambus- trouble with the ranch sprout?”

He shook his head. “Ain’t that, just wonderin’ if it’s worth keepin’ this one around if no one’s gonna eat any of the bulbs,” he said, plucking one and eyeing it with disgust, “who the grump would willingly eat ranch sauce?”

Shrugging, they figured that he was more qualified to answer that question than they were. “Well I hope you come to a decision on that soon, but if you don’t mind, I think it’s about time we go bring your wife back.”

“Huh? You mean we’re really gonna go get Triffy?” He blinked at them and they nodded.

“I don’t know where her dig site is in the Scorched Gorge, otherwise I would’ve gone already, but I was told that you know where it is?” they asked, an inquisitive lilt in their voice as they watched his face harden slightly.

As he straightened up, they tried to ignore how much bigger he was than them. “I can circle it for you on your map.”

“Actually- I’d  _ really _ prefer it if you went with me. For the sake of making this go along faster,” they said firmly, watching him narrow his eyes. “Look, we both know that whatever is keeping her away from Snaxburg is at least partially related to your relationship, and I’m not going to play telephone so you should buck up now and come with me to the gorge so we can get this done as quickly and cleanly as possible. We both want the same thing here!” They opened their arms with a nervous grin before Wambus’ hard stare finally broke with a sigh.

“Fine then.. lets get a move on, daylight don’t last forever.”

They tried not to let their excitement show too much as Wambus took the lead, guiding them down the desert path and through rocky ravines until they arrived at a settlement that had to be at least a few hundred years old. Dwellings were carved right into the canyon walls- historical evidence of one of the previous inhabitants of Snaktooth island.

Blinking away the dust, Snaplynn held a paw up in front of their face as they caught a glimpse of green fur towards the back of the area. “Oh! I think I see her-” they said, before coughing sharply. “Agh-  _ dirt-” _ When they next looked up, they could see Wambus staring at the figure in the distance, his gaze soft and full of undeniable longing. “Hey- lets go talk to her.”

“I don’t know, Stranger- don’t get me wrong, Triffy means the world to me, but..” his paws clenched at his sides, “what if she doesn’t want to see me? Isn’t that why she’s been out here for so long?”

Frowning, they took one of his much larger paws between both of theirs before pulling him towards the settlement. “Come on- no use theorizing. You can ask her yourself.” Perhaps later they’d look back at this situation and find some grand amusement in that they, a much shorter grumpus, had to drag Wambus, the tallest and one of the strongest of the Snaxburg group, to talk to his wife.

As it turned out, the hardest part was just getting him across the complex. For such a stoic looking individual, Wambus crumbled very spectacularly under pressure, babbling about how he’d come back later when she wasn’t busy, and other such excuses while Snaplynn dug their heels into the dusty earth to keep him from retreating.

They’d almost made it all the way to where Triffany had partitioned off a small section of the ruins to do some excavating before they lost their grip on Wambus, who subsequently tripped over them and landed on his back next to a skeleton before letting out a yell so loud that the local snax scattered at the sound. Across from them, Triffany looked up sharply from her research table.

“My goodness, what’s all this ruckus about?” she shot Snaplynn a look even as they gave her a sheepish wave, before her eyes fell upon Wambus. “Oh... well look who  _ finally _ decided to show up..”

_ “Triffany-” _ Wambus pushed himself back upright, staring at her while his jaw opened and closed repeatedly, not a single sound leaving it.

Letting out a sound of exasperation she turned away from him and towards Snaplynn. “Alright then, while he deals with that, who are you?”

They grinned nervously in response, they hadn’t been expecting Triffany to be so.. “Marriage counselor-” they said quickly, the words almost blending together as they flushed. “Uh..actually no, not really. I’m a- I  _ was _ a journalist.”

Triffany’s expression turned contemplative as she pulled out an entire skeleton arm from behind her back- where had she been keeping it? -and tapped the end against her open palm. “Hmm.. Journalist y’say?  _ Aha!” _ Snaplynn jumped slightly at her outcry, glancing at Wambus, who had now switched to staring at his paws in silence. “You’re Filbo’s little friend, aren’tcha? I thought you looked familiar, he had a photo of you in his hut. Y’look a lil’ different though, must be the hair,” she said amicably.

“Haha.. yeah.. that’s me, Snaplynn Sootspur...” They tugged at the strands covering the left side of their face on reflex.

“Judging by who ya brought along, I’m guessin' you already know who I am,” Triffany said confidently, nodding at them.

“I’ve actually been really looking forward to meeting you, and I really hate to distract you from what I’m sure is very important work, but about Filbo- he had a picture of me?”

Triffany looked confused for a moment. “Well that’s odd.. It was still there when he went up to the peak with Liz-  _ oh, _ nevermind,” her expression turned sour, “I think I know who has it.”

Their jaw shivered as they looked up at her. “Can you tell me who?”

Triffany gave them a once-over, and Snaplynn tried not to tremble beneath her stare before a warm smile blossomed on her face, their stomach twisting itself into knots as she stepped closer to put her free paw on their shoulder. “How about this, you and the big lug over there,” she gestured at Wambus’ dejected form with the skeleton arm, “help me out with a few things, and I won’t just tell you who has the photo, but I’ll help you get it back too. Sounds good?”

“That- that sounds great, actually,” they stammered out, before they shook themself out and turned to Wambus. “Oh come on, get up already!”

Wambus let out a noise like a wounded animal before finally turning to Triffany proper. “Triffy I’m so-” he was silenced when she held her paw up to his mouth.

“Oh no, you’re gonna help us out first, and then when we’re all done..” she moved her paw to cradle his chin, “we’ll talk, yeah?”

“..Yeah.. whatever you say, Triffy.” Snaplynn watched the edge leave Wambus’ eyes, the normally stoic grumpus practically melting. As they waited for the other two to remember they were there, they tried to not let the blooming envy in their heart take root.

-

Triffany put them and Wambus through the wringer, an entire day spent breaking into hidden rooms, opening old burial chambers, finding possibly dozens-of-years-old snax, and in Snaplynn’s case, learning more about Snaktooth island’s eclectic history.

“Y’see here, if you look at the paintings on the walls and cross reference ‘em with this here writing, you can see that the desert grumps regularly made offerings of smaller snax to what they thought was a bugsnak  _ god _ up at the top of the pyramid of snakrifice!” Triffany said excitedly as she pored over the photos that they’d so graciously offered to take of her findings in one paw, and her own research notes in another.

Leaning over to peek at her findings, Snaplynn’s eyes widened as they realized what was really painted on the walls in the photographs, pointing at one of the pictures in alarm, “Hey-! I recognize that snak, it’s the reason I crashed, it attacked my skyboat!” they said insistently, glaring at the giant moth shaped pizza.

“Are you serious? That's- this is incredible! If that snak is still around then its a living remnant of ancient history!” she cheered, raising one paw to the sky before arranging all the documents into a single folder. “I need to do some more research on its whereabouts, but I’m sure the pyramid isn’t too far away, a little further into the desert maybe. If I could use my old tent-” Triffany paused, straightening up and casting her gaze towards Wambus, who’d been sitting on a rock a short ways out of earshot from the two of them as they discussed the day’s findings. “I suppose I should talk to him.. air things out finally. We’ve had all day to actually do things my way.”

“He came all this way for you, and he didn’t immediately go back to Snaxburg instead of helping,” they said softly, “whatever problems you have, I know that doesn’t fix them, but it’s a start, isn't it?”

She met their gaze for a moment before sighing, then under her breath, “You’re right.. this won’t go away on its own.” Triffany brushed the dust out of her fur before approaching Wambus, leaving Snaplynn to lean against a wall and watch from a distance for a moment before looking away as the two of them drew closer.

Whatever they were discussing was officially none of their business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ch 10 was really hard to write for me because of reasons so this'll be the last update for at least a couple days while I rebuild my buffer since we're entering the second half of this fic. I should be back with more content by thursday at the latest!


	10. Chapter 10

When they arrived on the island, Snaplynn had a few questions they wanted answered.

After a few weeks spent on Snaktooth, they now had dozens more questions than answers at all- which weren’t forthcoming from pretty much anyone. What were bugsnax? No one knew. Where did they come from? Not a single clue from anybody, only theories and haphazard guesses. Why weren’t there any other creatures on the island? Beffica had ideas about that but they were too disturbing to consider.

But now with Triffany’s return there was finally,  _ finally _ someone in town who knew what they were talking about.

Sitting beside Eggabell while she carefully wrapped some gauze around Triffany’s arm, their thoughts were dragged back to the present as she began to speak.

“Y’know it’s a good thing you were there with me when I was looking for those ruins, I get a lil’ lost in thought sometimes, didn’t even notice that spuddy charging!” she laughed before flinching when Eggabell pulled the bandage tighter in a sharp motion.

“Well it would be nice if you paid more attention to taking better care of yourself, Triffany,” Eggabell grumbled, her words clipped before she sighed as she finished tying off the gauze, a harrowed look on her face. “You and Liz really need to stop taking so many risks when you’re out exploring..”

Snaplynn glanced between them both. “Doctor Batternugget, how often do you have to treat someone for injuries?”

Eggabell laughed softly, “You were an outlier, ‘Lynn, I think before the uh, fight, we usually went a couple weeks between incidents. If I'm being honest, Filbo was the one who got hurt the most, though at some point we stopped letting him try to catch snax, just because of the risk." Snaplynn felt their chest tighten at the thought. "Though.. there was that one time where a bunch of things went wrong at once,” she patted Triffany lightly on the shoulder. “Remember when you broke your leg the same day Gramble got food poisoning?”

The archaeologist let out an incredulous noise. “Hah! Do I ever! I felt so bad for you Doc, it was a real kerfuffle,” she said, reflexively attempting to gesture with her arm before she remembered her injury and winced. “Ah.. as much as I want to get back to the field, I suppose I should give it a few days. Next time I might not be so lucky to have our sharp eyed journalist out there helpin’ me!”

“Mrs- I mean, uh, sorry, is it Professor Lottablog?” Snaplynn watched as her muzzle scrunched up in confusion. “I just assumed-”

Eggabell tsked. “Don’t tell them or they’ll never call you by your first name again,” she warned, and they couldn’t stop themself from shooting her a weary look.

“I just want to make sure I’m addressing you both with regards to the respect you deserve-!” they said, paw lightly tapping their journal.

In response, Triffany nodded slowly, an amused expression replacing her confused one. “Ohh.. I see. Well in that case it looks like you’re stuck calling me Triffany! And if I catch you calling me Professor Lottablog I’ll just assume you’re talking about my Gramma.”

“You mean Professor  _ Bronica _ Lottablog?” Snaplynn straightened up slightly, feeling the familiar name roll off their tongue. They remembered reading all about her when they were still a student, looking up to experts wherever cryptozoology intersected with the rest of the world. She’d been a pioneer, a real explorer-

“Haha, yup! That was her..”

They couldn’t help the awed noise that escaped them. “That's.. that's incredible! I figured there was some familial connection- but to be talking to her actual granddaughter-” Snaplynn took in a few heavy breathes, their head spinning slightly, “Y-you know I wrote my thesis on her?” They held in a pleased chirp. They really, really couldn’t believe their luck. “Could.. could you tell me more about her?”

Triffany’s eyes glimmered with a mixture of pride and sorrow before standing, giving their shoulder a squeeze with her good paw and motioning to her research tent. “Come on, let's get out of Eggabell’s fur n’ I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

With a glance back towards Eggabell, they watched the exasperated doctor wave them both off. “Just keep her out of trouble and away from anything dangerous until her arm heals, okay ‘Lynn?”

“I’ll do my best, Doctor Batternugget.”

Eggabell let out a groan.  _ “See what I mean?” _

Triffany only laughed.

-

Snaplynn eagerly sat themself down on a stool adjacent to the workbench that Triffany had moved to stand in front of, feeling equally impatient and excited as she hummed, lightly tapping her chin with her paw.

“Huh.. where to start,” she began, closing her eyes as though she were lost in thought, “well I guess I might as well get the biggest surprise out of the way now that I know you were such a big fan of my Gramma.”

They perked up even more, leaning forward to watch her pull out a small journal from one of her vest pockets. “Is that..?”

Triffany beamed. “Yep! Her personal diary,” she said cheerily, opening it up to the middle before showing them a detailed sketch of a pinkle and another snak they’d never seen before- though it bore some similarities to the bopsicles they’d seen while up in the sugarpine forest. “She actually came here to research and study the island when I was younger, I found this journal a few months back, so I’ve been tracing her footsteps, trying to see what she saw in this place..”

Snaplynn blinked at the somber tone her voice took on as she spoke. “I don’t mean to presume but.. information about Professor Lottablog’s final whereabouts weren’t available when I was studying her work, only that she died a few years back. Does that mean-?” Triffany nodded as their question petered out.

“You betcha’! Gramma came to Snaktooth, and I assume that, eventually, she died here.. since she didn’t come home. Though, I really don’t believe it woulda’ been easy for her to, considering she was pretty old even before she left to explore this place.” They watched her stare at the journal, one paw idly stroking the cover. “Well, enough of all that! I know you came to help me out because you were interested in my work, but we didn’t get the chance because of that spuddy, did we?”

They nodded sharply, pulling out their own journal and instinctively flipping it open to a blank page, pencil at the ready. “As of right now you’re the only person on Snaktooth who’s done any real research into the history of bugsnax and the communities that made this island their home before w-'' they coughed slightly, “-before, everyone  _ else _ decided to settle here.. I wanted to know, in your professional opinion, what  _ are _ bugsnax?”

Snaplynn leaned forward as Triffany hummed with consideration, setting her grandmother’s journal down before taking a seat herself and resting her bandaged arm on her lap. “I’d hate to give you an inaccurate answer.. my research isn’t exactly as exhaustive as I’d like it to be, but I can tell you this! Bugsnax have a longer lasting history than any civilization on Snaktooth! I believe they were here before even the first grumps set foot on this island, and I’m certain they’ll be here long after you or I are gone.” She looked rather pleased with the response, a confident smile on her face. “Bugsnax as a species themselves are pretty difficult to study with the limited resources we’ve got, plus I was never the expert with those sorts of things. History was the calling that Gramma inspired me to follow, it just so happens that these creatures are living records of the past! If you wanted to learn more about them on their own I’d go find Floofty, they were always experimentin’ and whatnot with the snax yanno?”

As Triffany gestured to what they assumed was a chemistry set on one of the tables at the very back of the tent. “Oh, those aren’t yours?” they asked, watching her shake her head. “I see... I don’t believe I’ve met Floofty yet, whoever they are.” A paw settled on their shoulder and Snaplynn seized, back going ramrod straight before Snorpy came into view at their side, a disapproving look on his face.

“You are filling the good journalist’s head with ideas of indoctrination with regards to my morally bankrupt sibling, Triffany,” he said, snout in the air as he squeezed their arm. “Don’t listen to her biased claims about Floofty, my good chum.”

Across from them Triffany almost crossed her arms before she remembered her injury, wincing slightly before  _ hmph _ ing softly and rolling her eyes. “You can’t call me biased when you’re only saying that because you and Floofty don’t see eye to eye, Snorpy. There’s nothing wrong with Floofty-”

Snaplynn was jerked back as Snorpy firmly took both of their shoulders in paw, practically squeezing them against his chest as though the close proximity could shield them from Triffany’s words.  _ “Snorpy-” _

“My sibling is a heretic who values knowledge over life,” he said, matter-of-factly, one paw now placed atop their head in what they assumed he intended to be a comforting gesture. “Getting others involved in their work is risking the safety of potential  _ volunteers.” _

Standing, they gently moved Snorpy’s paws off of them. “I appreciate the concern, really I do, but I’ll be alright, Snorpy. Thank you,” they turned back to Triffany. “I really hate to leave our conversation like this but I did get sidetracked a bit- I just remembered something I meant to ask earlier. Do you know how snax reproduce?”

Triffany looked mildly stunned by the question but quickly shook off the surprise and picked her journal back up. “Hmm... now that’s a tricky one for sure. None of the ancient accounts mention anything about  _ how _ bugsnax supposedly procreate,  _ but, _ when me and Wambus were exploring together- this was back when we’d first come to the island -we found records, cave paintings of a huge snak that lived somewhere near the falls! It was depicted to have offspring too, so that must mean there’s a way for them to make lil’ snax..”

Eyes flashing with interest, Snaplynn jotted down exactly what she’d said, the gears in their mind already spinning while Snorpy peeked over their shoulder. “Thank you so much, Triffany, that’s exactly what I needed to hear. Come on, Snorpy.” They put their journal away before tugging on his paw to pull him towards the mill, their free paw extended to wave at Triffany as they departed.

“Wha- where are we going, chum?”

“We’re gonna get Chandlo and then head to Flavor Falls,” They glanced back at him, excitement making their fur stand on end. “It’s time for some snak hunting.”

◉◉

Snaplynn followed Chandlo as he led them and Snorpy through the falls, hoisting them up with ease as they climbed over rocks- helping each other as they crossed the rocky outcropping at the outskirts to reach a massive pit covered in aged roots, the remains of a huge tree that had likely been felled ages ago. Snorpy was humming nervously under his breath as Chandlo leaned over the edge to peer at the giant snak asleep within the center of the cavern, its round, melony body almost obscuring the littler snax huddled up beneath its bulk.

“Remind me- why are we doing this again?  _ That’s the biggest snak I’ve ever seen- _ it could probably flatten us with ease!” he whisper-shouted, one paw on Snaplynn’s shoulder as he tried to beckon Chandlo away from where the stones ended.

Not paying any mind to his fretting, they reached into their backpack and pulled out a section of rope, carefully looping it around their midsection before handing the loose end to Chandlo. “I promised Gramble I’d find him some snax for his ranch, though more specifically, snax that prove they can procreate. Triffany said that this one is known for having offspring, so I’m just going to grab a few of them for him and, uh..?” Now that they were saying it out loud the plan was sounding significantly less smart, but what  _ else _ were they supposed to do?  _ “Look.  _ Chandlo is gonna lower me down and I’ll scoop up the babies with my net, then he’ll pull me back up and we’ll go right back to Snaxburg no worse for wear!”

As they began to crawl out onto the roots with Chandlo following them, Snorpy squeaked with worry. “Be careful you two! I don’t want to see what would happen if you disturbed that behemoth from its slumber..”

“Don’t worry Snorp-dawg! I can handle it,” Chandlo shot Snorpy a thumbs up before Snaplynn allowed him to begin lowering them down with the rope, net in hand as they descended next to the mewon. The tiny red ball shaped snax underneath it squeaked and tried to hide under the sleeping mother, but as they moved to swing the net, a cluster of the wee mewons jumped out at them.

Flailing with surprise, Snaplynn barked with shock even as their net was filled with excited snax, all of them clamoring to try and fit inside as they struggled to keep their hold on it as its weight rapidly increased. “Ack-!  _ Chandlo!” _

From their place near the bottom of the pit, they couldn’t see the panicked look that Chandlo and Snorpy shared as the green-furred grumpus began to try and pull them back up, the rope straining under the group of mewons now clinging to Snaplynn despite their best efforts to shake them off.

“Hold on, chum! Chandlo will have you up shortly-” Snorpy was interrupted by a low rumbling growl, and Snaplynn looked up in panic as the Mama mewon’s eyes slowly opened, glancing around in confusion over being woken abruptly before settling on their form- covered in its offspring. “Oh grump, start pulling!”

Grabbing fistfulls of rope to try and raise them quicker, Chandlo grunted under the strain,  _ “I’m trying!” _

Snaplynn tried not to quail beneath the aggravated glare of the huge snak, paws gripping the net’s handle tighter while the wee mewons bounced on top of them. “Any- anytime, guys, no rush at all..” they said, voice close to a whisper as they stared into the snak’s eyes. “Nice mewon..”

Before Chandlo could make another attempt at hoisting them up, the ground began to roll and shake. The mama mewon growled, unable to stand while the earth rippled, dropping into the water and sending waves through the whole room. While struggling to keep his hold on the rope, the unexpected earthquake made him lose his balance, both he and Snaplynn falling into the pond at the center of the cavern with a splash, the oblivious offspring of the mama mewon gleefully prancing over them.

Atop the ridge, Snorpy fell onto his back with a sharp cry, the rumbling earth continuing to tremble for a moment before the ground settled. Scrambling on all fours to the edge, he gasped at the sight of the other two, lying face down in the water while the mama mewon loomed nearby. “Oh grump-  _ oh grump-” _ he started digging through his pack for something- anything useful.

Inside the cave, Snaplynn looked up blearily, water dripping from their fur as they let out a series of ragged wet coughs, their eyes going wide when they realized they were now at the bottom- with Chandlo stuck there with them. As the mewon shook itself slightly, recovering from the quake, they abandoned their net and busied themself with dragging Chandlo towards the wall, struggling under his weight while hoping the mother would ignore them as its offspring bounced towards it.

“Chandlo-  _ Chandlo? _ You really need to wake up or we’re both going to flatter than waffstackaracks-” they urged, shaking his shoulder before watching his eyes open slowly. “Ah, good, you’re not concussed.” Snaplynn let out a breathy, anxious laugh as they risked a glance behind themself, relaxing slightly when they spotted the mama mewon busying itself with corralling the wee ones. “We need to get out of here before it notices us again..”

Groaning softly, Chandlo got to his feet with them supporting him. “Ugh.. Where’s Snorpy?”

Scanning the room, they felt a pang of relief when they didn’t spot the other grumpus in the cave with them. “He must still be up on top of the rocks.” They pulled Chandlo towards the giant stone doors, practically hugging the wall, occasionally hiding behind statues of ancient stone grumpuses before they made it to the other end of the room. Attempting to open the doors themself yielded no results though, with neither of them budging an inch despite their best efforts to move them. “Chandlo do you think you could..?”

Before he could try, a growl echoed through the chamber, and when they both looked up, they could see the mama mewon readying itself to charge. Not knowing what to do, Snaplynn curled up, paws over their head as they braced for the inevitable, the huge snak bellowing as it rushed towards them before the sound of crumbling rock and a light pelting of dust and pebbles replaced what they assumed would be the sensation of being pulverized against a wall.

When they opened their eye, they could see the mama mewon’s disoriented form, its thick rind pierced by one of the stalactites hanging from the cave’s ceiling. Looking up, they spotted Snorpy, still hanging above them and looking pleased as he held a clawed contraption they hadn’t seen before in his paws. From behind them, Chandlo let out a whoop.

“That’s my grumpin’ boyfriend, dawg!” he cheered, and Snaplynn glanced back towards Snorpy to see his expression shift from pride to shock, the invention dropping from his paws. Bolting forward, they barely managed to catch it just as the mama mewon recovered, shaking bits of rock off itself.

“And we’re both  _ so _ proud of him, but if you haven’t noticed,  _ we have a giant snak trying to kill us!” _ they practically howled, diving out of the way when the mewon charged them a second time, the entire cave shaking when it crashed into the wall. “Snorpy! How do I use this thing!?”

They couldn’t see him recover from his surprise, but they could hear him shouting down to them, “Aim with the crosshairs in the lens and pull the lever to shoot the snakgrappler!” Well, that would make this significantly easier.

Snaplynn spotted Chandlo running towards the loose cluster of wee mewons, hoisting one up and running towards one of the moss-covered grumpus statues before shouting at the mama as its gaze refocused on them. “Hey! Look what I’ve got!” he taunted, holding the baby above his head. The mama mewon rumbled with anger as it hurtled towards him, even knocking its own children aside as it slammed into the carved stones. The moment its movement was halted, they shot the grappler towards another stalactite hanging above its body, the sharp rock falling and spearing the mewon further, its hull breaking apart even more.

When it shook itself loose once again, it looked completely different, the entire upper half of its body crumbled away, revealing its vulnerable insides. “Chandlo! My net!” Snaplynn barked, watching as he snatched it up from where it’d fallen in the water before scooping up several of the incapacitated wee mewons and drawing the mama’s attention back towards him.

This time, when it charged, they managed to get the stalactite to fall directly on the center of it before it could even reach Chandlo. The mama mewon’s body sloughing away until it was only a slice, disoriented and grumbling on the ground.

As soon as it became apparent that the snak would no longer attack them, Snaplynn sagged with relief, their arms suddenly aching as they lowered the snakgrappler. “Snorpy? I think you’re going to have to meet us down here, doesn’t seem like we’ll be able to get back out the way we came,” they called, waiting for his affirmation that he’d meet them at the door before they stumbled towards Chandlo, who picked up the shrunken mama mewon by its legs.

“Haha..whoa.. hard to believe this is the same snak that almost flattened us a few moments ago,” he said, handing it off to them before they shoved it and a few of its babies into their pack.

“Gramble better be happy about this-” they mumbled bitterly, “I can’t believe I was almost pulped by an oversized fruit...” Following Chandlo back to the door, they watched him pull them apart with ease only to find his arms immediately full of Snorpy.

The two of them held each other tightly for a moment before Snorpy pulled away, eyes searching Chandlo’s face as his paws settled on the other’s cheeks.  _ “Chandlo! _ I mean- are you alright? No broken bones? Exploded biceps? When we get back to Snaxburg I insist you get checked over by Eggabell as soon as possible!” 

In response, Chandlo laughed softly. “Hey Snorp-dawg, chill, we both made it out in one piece! Sure, I’m a little sore but hey, that was a pretty great workout!” Ignoring the urge to roll their eye, Snaplynn let out a breath as they patted Snorpy on the shoulder.

“Things didn’t go exactly to plan, but.. we got what we came here for,” they gestured to their pack, “plus a little extra. And neither of us died or got maimed so I’m going to count this one as a win.” When they looked back towards the two, they were still staring into each other's eyes. “Yeah.. yeah alright, okay, I’ll just meet you both back in town, then.”

There was no response as they headed towards Snaxburg, but they waited until they were all the way in Garden Grove before taking their frustrations out on a weenieworm. They justified their actions by reminding themself that the snak was one of Beffica’s favorites, and ignored the remainders of their feelings for the rest of the walk back.


	11. Chapter 11

“Wow! I can’t believe it- they’re.. they’re a real family!” Gramble’s excitement turned to weepy babbling as he wrapped his arms around the shrunken mama mewon, its quiet rumbling not deterring him from petting it as its babies hopped around him and Wiggle, who leaned down to coo at them. Snaplynn was sure they might’ve felt some warmth at the scene, but that was before they’d almost been squished by the mother while trying to steal her children.

After a few more minutes of watching the other two grumpuses fawn over the snax, they sighed, their eyes drawn to the sunset. “So.. you’ll both come back to Snaxburg? I even have a signed statement from almost everyone that they’ll leave your barn alone. I’ve been catching most of the snax for the town lately anyway..” Turning back towards Gramble, they noted him sniffling as he picked up a few of the babies.

“Yeah.. yeah! We’ll go right away- I gotta get these little ones situated.. mama too! You mentioned you found her in a closed up cave, so I bet she’ll feel more comfortable when she’s indoors with her babies!” he continued to mutter about what he’d do to make his barn more suitable for the mewons as he headed towards town, the mother grumbling before following him on account of the wee ones hanging from him like ornaments.

Watching them depart, Snaplynn jerked out of their exhausted stupor when Wiggle let out a hum of affection from next to them. “He’s sweet, isn’t he..” Nodding tiredly, they forced their eyes to stay open, glancing up at her when she gave them a concerned look. “You doing alright there, sugar? I know that look- it’s the ‘I’ve been on tour for so long and I don’t quite remember what sleep is anymore’ expression of someone running themself completely ragged,” she said softly, patting them on the shoulder.

“I’m fine, Miss Wiggle,” they held their head up when they heard her laugh.

 _“Miss?_ How old do you think I am?” she looked at them with incredulous amusement before settling a paw on their back. “I know you’re grown and all, but you should take better care of yourself.. goodness knows Gramble’s anxiety keeps him up even when he’s unconscious! You better not go missing trying to catch snax in your sleep.”

Snaplynn waved her off before holding in a yawn caused their eyes to water. “I- it’s fine, Mi- _Wiggle.”_ Groaning softly, they pressed their paw to their good eye. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be back in town shortly.”

Her gaze roved over them from top to bottom as she gave a disbelieving _mmmhmm_ before leaning over them. “Listen, darling, you take my advice and have yourself a nice _looong_ rest when you finally get your tail back to Snaxburg, and when you’re good and ready I’ll give you some info that would knock the fur off of some of the other grumpuses,” she winked and they pointedly looked away as their face warmed, “Have we got a deal?”

Wiggle held out her paw to them, and after glancing from it to her face once or twice they took it gingerly in their own, squeezing slightly before she squealed and pulled them into a one armed hug. _“Delightful!_ You won’t regret it!” as she turned to leave she gave them one last parting look, raising her sunglasses slightly so they could see her eyes beneath the star-shaped frames. “Look after yourself, alright Snaplynn?”

“I will, Wiggle, thank you..” they nodded and she gave them a final wink before heading towards the path that led to town. With a sigh, they sat down on the rocks and stared down towards the beach. As they found it harder and harder to stay awake, they thought back to all the progress they’d made in the past few weeks.

Almost everyone was back in Snaxburg, which had Eggabell excited and relieved in spades. Only three grumpuses weren’t yet in town, now that they’d gotten Wiggle and Gramble to go home. More than likely, they’d all be back in only a few days, and yet-

Their mind automatically went to Filbo and his whereabouts. Was he safe? Injured? The other possibility lingered at the edge of their mind but Snaplynn refused to entertain it. He was alive, he had to be alive. If he wasn’t they were going to get back to the mainland and drive Elizabert’s already damaged reputation so far into the ground that her great grandpups would feel the shame of being related to her.

Hiccuping once, they forced back tears and snarled under their breath. Why had they let him come to this grump forsaken island? They should’ve protested more- encouraged him to stay, asked him to come with them on one of their work trips, done something, _anything-_

A rustling sound nearby immediately drew them out of their thoughts and set their focus on their surroundings. Glancing around, they quickly hopped up onto an outcropping of rocks and pressed themself against the stones just behind a bush.

Barely daring to breathe, they heard the sound of trees bending and snapping in the distance, only relaxing when it drew further and further away. Sighing with relief, they looked towards the beach to see someone crossing the coastline, heading towards the opposite end and slipping into a hole on the side of a shipwreck. Blinking slowly, Snaplynn straightened up and dusted the sand from their fur before clambering over the rocks and jogging back to Snaxburg, their heart pounding as they made a beeline for the relative safety of the town.

Wiggle’s advice was looking better and better by the minute.

◉◉

“Oh, hey there ‘Lynn! A bit late for you to be starting your day for once,” Triffany beamed as Snaplynn stepped into her tent at a cinnasnail’s pace before taking their seat at their usual stool in front of her research table, some slabs of stone resting on top of it instead of the usual skeleton. “Finally learnin’ the joys of sleepin’ in, eh?”

Giving her a quiet nod, they graciously accepted the cup of water she passed into their paws, sipping from it slowly before looking over at the samples she was observing. “No, just.. felt like taking a few extra hours to recharge. Wiggle tattled on me to Eggabell, and they both covered up all the windows and the door in Filbo’s hut so I slept through the afternoon,” they smiled faintly as they remembered waking up, confused by the darkness they were in before they realized that the world hadn’t been plunged into eternal night. “It was actually a nice gesture. I guess I’ve been working too hard lately.”

Triffany made a happy noise as she patted them on the shoulder. “Good on you for actually listening to the others, goodness knows you need it. Can’t be out there chasing snax or solving mysteries if you can barely stay on your paws!” she said, before turning back to her research.

As they finished drinking their water, the leaned to the side to get a better look at the stone sections Triffany was looking at. “Huh, those look really familiar,” they pointed at a round shaped painting of a bugsnak, “is that a..?”

“A mewon? Sure does look like it! And get this-” Triffany kneeled down to root through a basket containing more stone pieces before pulling out another. “See here, that giant flying bugsnak that was painted in the rooms in the canyon ruins.. the same one you said crashed into your skyboat! Oh this is so exciting!” She cheered softly. “After you brought back that mama mewon I was sure that we were on to something- what with your encountering two giant bugsnax that were also depicted as being around in ancient times! We’ve got a piece of living history right in Gramble’s barn!”

Watching her excited fluttering, Snaplynn set their cup aside to flip through their journal. They stared at their notes, the hasty scribbles they’d made of the mama mewon in her prime, the sketch they’d done from memory of the flying pizza snak that crashed into their ship. In the back of their mind a question began to itch.

“I’ll be right back, Triffany-” they barely heard her say _take care_ as they sat up and hurried towards Wiggle’s hut. The sound of quiet notes had them slowing their pace before they eventually stood just outside the doorway. Wiggle was sitting on her bed, legs crossed as she idly strummed her banjo, a focused look on her face even though her eyes were closed. Rapping the back of their paw against the wooden frame, they watched her paws still.

When she heard their knocking, Wiggle looked up, surprised for a moment before a welcome smile appeared on her muzzle. “Well look who it is! Morning, sugar, or should I say late afternoon?” she raised an eyebrow before laughing sharply, slapping a paw over her knee as though them getting up late was the funniest thing ever. “How ya feeling?”

“Refreshed, actually,” they couldn’t help but smile back, “but also I came to cash in on our deal from the other night.”

Wiggle set aside her banjo and fluffed her boa, “Why darling of course! Wiggle Wigglebottom never backs out on a promise, now come a lil’ closer,” she beckoned them to her side with one paw and they shuffled over until she could sling an arm over their shoulder, pulling them in and glancing around conspiratorially before lowering her voice to a whisper.

“You haven’t been to the Boiling Bay yet, have you?” they shook their head no, “Well.. if you go there sometime just before sunrise, you can see a _huge_ snak..rising up from the depths of the sea floor. When I used to go wandering the beach with my banjo to get some early morning practice in, I’d see it just off the coast, slamming its big ‘ol head against the shipwrecks further out.”

Snaplynn leaned back as they let Wiggle’s words sink in, their paws itching for their journal as they ran over what they knew in their head. They were now aware of three giant snaks, two of which were seemingly ancient according to Triffany’s records. They closed their eye as they focused, resting their chin in paw. Wiggle had seen the third giant snak attacking shipwrecks that were further away from the island. _Why?_

They had even more questions now, but they didn’t think the banjo-popstar in the room with them would have the answers they needed. “That’s.. really interesting, Wiggle,” they mumbled softly, before standing and turning to leave. “I need to get back to Triffany, but this was important information, it might actually be relevant to what we’ve both been working on.”

Wiggle beamed at them, a bright smile on her face as she stood too, placing a paw on their shoulder. “I’m so glad I could be of assistance, darling! But before you go..” she leaned in once more and her comforting, melodic voice took on a much more serious tone. “I’d be very careful if I were you, sugar. I believe there’s a good reason no one ever comes back from this island, and there’s a chance we might soon find out why.”

Snaplynn didn’t move for a minute- long enough for Wiggle to return to sitting on her bed and resume plucking at her banjo’s strings -before finally heading back towards Triffany’s tent at a cautious pace.

In all their haste to fix Snaxburg’s problems, perhaps they’d missed something important, something to explain the strangeness of the island, something that would make the existence of bugsnax make some form of _sense._

“You look like you’re thinkin’ hard,” Triffany’s voice brought them out of their focused daze right before they tripped over a box full of bones, “did ya figure something out?”

“Not quite.. but,” moving past her to look at her map of the island, they noted where the bay was before glancing back at her. “I think we may have a lead.”

◉◉

Snaplynn had barely spent five minutes at the bay before they were forcing themself to wade in the water next to Triffany as she examined the area. The sun hadn’t yet fully risen but the cove they were in was so much hotter than even the gorge’s dry landscape. Panting as they dragged their feet through the sand, they periodically splashed themself while following at a sluggish pace.

“See anything yet?” they asked, fur soaked with sweat and seawater while Triffany squinted at the horizon, “I know this place is called Boiling Bay but I still didn’t expect it to be so _grumping_ hot.”

Triffany hummed at them while she stared into the distance, one paw tilting her hat lower as she squinted. “Well there’s a lot of lava out here hun, stands to reason it would be hot. Also I haven’t seen anything yet, but it’s still early, it might show up,” she said cheerily, “we should avoid walking to the other end of the cove on the beach, Gramma said that paletoss grande is a highly aggressive snak!” When they looked in the direction she pointed, they could see what looked like a bopsicle, but in different colors, stomping around in the sand.

“Ugh.. think I can catch it just so I can ride on its back and not have to worry about overheating?” groaning, they pulled off their pack and tossed it to her before sitting in the water. “I hope that giant snak shows up soon..”

“Hmm.. there’s some shade under that shipwreck on that little sandbar a ways out! Why don’t we wade out there and wait for a while?” Triffany put on their pack and stepped into the water with them as they forced themself back to their feet with a grimace.

As they made their way to the sandbar, Snaplynn let themself stare out at the numerous remains of various crashed ships, noting how many of them there were and the different styles of their construction. An unease settled over them before they turned their attention back onto their current working companion. “How’s your arm, Triffany?”

She glanced at them, surprise on her face for a brief moment before she flexed her left arm, “Oh y’know, could be better, but it still works! I know Eggabell hates it when I get into scuffles with the snax so I’m trying to take it a bit easier, for her sake.”

“Not.. for _your_ sake?” they watched as her eyes lost a hint of their inquisitive shine before she reached over to pat them on the back, wordless as she dragged her paws along the seafloor before they both finally reached the shaded wreckage of the boat. Noting the tense silence from Triffany, they let themself fall back against the sand with an exagerrated sigh of relief over not being in the heat. Glancing to their right they noted a box partially buried in the sand. “Huh, that’s weird-”

Gasping, Triffany dropped to her knees, carefully putting her grandmother’s journal in her vest pocket before brushing the box clear and opening it up. “Hahah! Ah, wait.. hmm..” she paused, exuberance lost as she stuck a paw into the treasure chest. “Snak eyes?” They leaned over to peer at the remains, a pawful of snak eyes in her grasp as Triffany stared down at the chest, her expression growing grim. “Thats.. odd..”

“What’s odd about it?” they asked, sitting up. “Looks like someone tried to leave with some snax.”

Triffany made a soft noise as she dropped the eyes back into the chest and closed it up. “Unless Gramma’s notes are wrong.. this ship probably belonged to Grumpbeard, you know, the famous pirate? The records on his disappearance weren’t very thorough, though I suppose I know why now.. but my concern ist that if he tried to get snax _off_ the island, it doesn’t make sense!” she moved to sit beside them, paw tapping her knee as she furrowed her brow in thought. “Gramma assumed that he and his crew crashed on the island for whatever reason and got stranded here.. but if his ship was actually wrecked while they were trying to leave...”

Snaplynn felt a full body shudder make its way up their spine, their fur standing on end. “You don’t think-?” they didn’t have a chance to finish their question as a distant rumble had them whipping around to stare at the horizon, swallowing tightly as they saw the large snak Wiggle mentioned rising up from the sea.

Glancing to the side, they heard Triffany let out a nervous laugh. “Y’know.. this would actually explain why, uh, the ship we came here in went missing-” she said quietly. Half coughing with surprise, Snaplynn pushed themself up against the wooden boards and motioned for her to do the same. She shuffled to their side and they pulled at their pack to get their snaxscope.

Getting a quick photo of the giant snak, they watched it slowly wind its way from beneath the water until it was circling in midair, peering through the camera’s visor, they zoomed in on it. “Huh.. its not just one snak, there’s a bunch of them following the head,” they whispered, watching the lead snak begin leading the others in throwing itself against some wreckages further out, not stopping until they weren’t visible above the water. “Wiggle mentioned it doing that, _why is it doing that?”_

At their side, Triffany looked grim. “Lynn? I think-” she flinched at the sound of the snak crushing wood beneath its bulk in the distance, “-we should probably get out of here.”

Memories of almost being squashed under the mama mewon’s body flashed in their mind as the slowly stood, nodding vigorously even as the snak drew closer as it finished flattening the shipwrecks in immediate sight, slowly winding its way towards the beach. “Yeah, yeah I agree, but where do we go when there’s only more beach?” they asked, not entirely keen on trying to outrun a creature that could fly.

Triffany looked back towards the shore for a moment before pointing towards an opening in the base of the volcano. “Look, there’s a cave! With any luck we can hide out in there until it’s gone!” she rubbed her paws together as she looked back towards the still-approaching snak. “That is, if we can get there before it catches us.”

“No sense waiting around in that case!” Quickly grabbing her paw in one of their own, they made a break for shore, struggling through the water as the large snak’s cries began to draw closer, “Don’t look back at it!” they shouted, gasping and straining to run faster the closer they drew to the beach itself.

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Triffany cried, her eyes squeezed closed as they both stumbled onto the beach, leaving Snaplynn to drag her to the cave just before the entrance was covered by the snak’s shadow, the grumbling of it and its followers echoing against the stone as it circled the opening, too large to fit inside. “Alrighty then.. we just have to wait until it gets bored and leaves before we can go back.” Shaking herself off and clasping her paws together in relief, she blinked when her traveling companion didn’t reply. “Lynn? Oh!”

The instant they’d made it to safety, they’d sank to the ground, boneless and panting. Triffany plucked their hat off their head and began to fan them with it.

“Oh dear, oh dear.. where can we..” she looked around, before setting their hat down, spotting a wider cavern further in, “just stay here! I’ll find us another way out.”

As she jogged away, they were unable to muster the energy to protest. Gingerly picking up their hat, they resumed fanning themself in weak motions, hoping they wouldn’t be a puddle by the time she got back.

**Author's Note:**

> If you also love bugsnax hmu on tumblr/twitter @constellraetion !!


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